The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Director: Peter Jackson
Starring: Bernard Hill, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen
Details: US and NZ / 201 mins / (12PG).
The Return of the King opens with a snappy prologue documenting how a hobbit called Smeagol was horribly corrupted by the Ring becoming Gollum before reacquainting us with the progress of Sam and Frodo, almost broken by their mission to bring the One Ring to Mordor. Elsewhere, Sauron's forces are to lay siege to Minas Tirth, the capital of Gondor, and while the kingdom is in danger of falling to the marauding orcs, Aragorn must pursue his destiny and become king. Of course, this is a hopelessly inadequate summarisation of events in Return of the King but Jackson handles the plentiful action with considerable skill - Frodo's encounter with a huge spider had me almost hyperventilating with excitement, while the battle sequences make the Helm's Deep section of The Two Towers look like a stroll in the park. The formidable running time (201 minutes) never becomes a chore; Jackson expertly zips between narrative strands to keep the viewer gripped, fashioning a degree of tension which barely slackens. The only quibble is that after the sheer exhilaration of the previous three hours, the last twenty minutes feel a mite anti-climatic. The ending feels a little dragged out and a little despondent, but when that's about the harshest criticism that can be levelled at a picture, you know it's something really special. A must see.
Review by Garreth Murphy
Your Comments
wind
This is it, the end of an epic adventure which millions of people have watched. Like the previous two films, this movie is made in New Zealand. The stunning mountains really add to the movie and you really wish you could just be where they are! This really adds to the feeling of the film. Frodo (Elijah Wood), and Sam (Sean Astin), have to try and survive for the last part of their journey as it is the most dangerous. Gollum (Andy Serkis), leads them to a cave that will take them to the back of Mordor. Should they trust Gollum? The Ring gets heavier and heavier for Fordo to carry as they get closer to Mordor. Fordo isn't too sure that they will make it because in order to reach the volcano they must pass through all the millions of Orcs that surround it. They are both very scared. Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Grimli (John Rhys-Davies), Merry (Dominic Monaghan), Pippin (Billy Boyd), and others decide to march to the Black Gate (the entrance to Mordor). There they know they will be met by the huge army of Orcs and will be in sight of the “eye”. They hope that this will cause a distraction and that the Orcs surrounding the volcano will leave and fight them.. If this works, they will be outnumbered greatly. This will be the hardest battle they will have had to fight throughout their amazing adventure. But they won't only have to fight Orcs, the Nazgul will also be there. These are huge bat-like creatures with huge necks and teeth. There will also be Trolls. So, if they distract the army and still survive, will Frodo and Sam make it to the volcano and if they do will the ring want to be destroyed? The three hours in this movie might put some people off, but it is worth every minute!
Posted 28/06/2011 14:20:33
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