More Reflections on
The Return of the King
12-18-03

OK, I'm a little more awake now and the movie has grown on me over the past 48 hours. For those who read my earlier review (below), I apologize if I didn't clarify that ROTK is far and away one of the best movies I've ever seen (The Two Towers being my #1 favorite,  The Fellowship being #2; I'd have to say this is #3). What bummed me out was that it didn't blow the first two away by being over-the-top awesome, which it could have done in my mind by a more faithful portrayal of Tolkien's original story AND by sticking with more of the surprise twists in that original narrative. All the same, it had its unforgettable moments: the lighting of the signal fires; the charge of the cavalry of Rohan; Pippin's song in the hall of Denethor (and the wonderful development of Pippin's character in general); the amazing oliphaunts; the faces of the people of Minas Tirith as the men ride to battle; the beauty and majesty of the colossal city itself...I could truly go on. But I'm not sure Jackson saved the best movie for last, as good as it was.
 

My Foggy, Early-Morning Thoughts on
The Return of the King
12-17-03

It is precisely 4:07 a.m. I’ve just returned from the midnight premiere of the much-anticipated "Return of the King," the third and final installment in "The Lord of the Rings" film-epic.

I’ll be honest: in many ways I feel the deflation that comes after something that you’ve been looking forward to for a long, long time is finally over. This is not to say that the film was disappointing overall: I’m just a bit sad.

Overall the plot went as I expected, with some surprises as to things they kept in that I hadn’t anticipated (e.g., Aragorn’s river excursion). However, I feel that many of the subtleties, the nuances, the things that make the story so very unique to Tolkien and the things he held dear, were missing. Particularly, I feel several key characters and crucial aspects of their development were overlooked due to time spent on other extraneous things (such as unbelievably cool battle scenes with "oliphaunts," which I loved like everyone else).

In particular, there are questions left in our minds as to what happened to Saruman, Wormtongue, Éowyn, and Faramir. And why on earth was Denethor, the Steward of Gondor so very messed up? How could Sam possibly stick by Frodo after his behavior on the stairs leading into Mordor (behavior, by the way, that was never part of Tolkien’s vision for their relationship)? What proof did it take for the people of Gondor to accept Aragorn as the rightful heir to the throne? The answers to these questions reflect what I believe were important spiritual truths within Tolkien’s original narrative, whose subtleties have been lost in the film.

However, I can say that in the end, it was a great film and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. I’m not so sure it was a great representation of Tolkien’s original vision for the story, nor did it capture some of the more subtle spiritual themes I’ve found fascinating in the books  (i.e.,"The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known"). But most of the main elements of the plot were there, and I could enjoy the fact that all my favorite characters were gathered in one spot on screen for a few hours.