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by R.J. Carter Published: December 15, 2003
And the movie needs every single one of those minutes, because there's a lot going on. The movie opens with a flashback on how Smeagol acquired the One Ring, then moves on to his accompanying Frodo and Samwise in their quest to destroy the ring in the fires of Mordor. Of course Smeagol is leading them into treachery, and we see quite clearly that his mind is fractured between his Smeagol and Gollum personalities. Only Samwise can see past Smeagol's plotting, and it is he who is actually the hero of the film, never abandoning his pledge to follow Frodo Baggins to the bitter end. He demonstrates his faithfulness when Frodo collapses but won't allow Sam to take the burden which is the ring. In true "he's my brother" fashion, Sam tells Frodo that he may not be able to carry the ring, but he can certainly carry Frodo, and though he is just as exhausted as Frodo, he carries the collapsed hobbit over his shoulders. Sean Astin deserves recognition for an intensely moving performance in his role as Samwise Gamgee. 
Meanwhile, Gandalf and company prepare to defend Minas Tirith against an army of orcs, completely uncertain as to whether Frodo is succeeding in his quest or has died along the way.Peter Jackson isn't above inserting a bit of much-needed levity into the film, however, and that is carried out by Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies as the battle-competitive Legolas the Elf and Gimli the Dwarf. One particular battle finds them beseiged by elephants as large as trees. As the two battle companions count their kills out loud to each other, Legolas ascends a pachyderm in Spider-Man-like leaps, kills it, then slides down its trunk, a la Fred Flintstone as the beast keels over. Gimli is quick to remind Legolas: "That still only counts as one!" Nothing in "Return of the King" is done save that it is done on the grandest scale possible. Take Minas Tirith. I once took a trip to California, flying into Oakland. I took the Bay Bridge to San Francisco and as the city suddenly came into view, I was left breathless--it went up and up and up... The first view of Minas Tirith is like that, times thirteen. It's a monster of a tower, a white fortress that is simply too huge to convey with words. The concept of muchness is repeated throughout, with the enormity of the Nazguls, the endless vistas of the battlefields--even Aragorn's reforged sword seems to draw forever from its scabbard. Peter Jackson has done with "The Lord Of The Rings" what the Wachowski Brothers could not with "The Matrix": created a trilogy that maintains its edge-of-your-seat tension from the beginning of the first film through the ending of the third, and leaving the viewer hoping for more (and there is, after all, a little matter of "The Hobbit" to discuss.) Jackson has crafted the "Star Wars" for the 21st Century. "The Lord Of The Rings" trilogy is going to be the watermark against which all future epic films will be measured. |
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