Return of the Jedi is the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King’s cautionary tale. After the triumph of Empire Strikes Back, Return of Jedi failed to deliver on the promise of the second film in the Star Wars Trilogy. Fortunately, because of the minimal catharsis provided by the first two LOTR movies, LOTR: Return of the King adds emotional resolutions to the already fantastic locations and special effects promised from the first two LOTR movies. By upping the emotional ante, The Return of the King delivers the punch set up by the first two movies, and places the Lord of the Rings at the top of the Trilogy Pantheon. Peter Jackson has finished the fantasy genre’s benchmark, in what will be one of the greatest motion pictures of all time.
The Return of the King returns us to our story slightly after the Two Towers Ended. After the victory at Helm’s Deep, Gandalf (Ian McKellan) and the others turn their attention to Mordor and Sauron. After an accident, Gandalf and Pippin (Billy Boyd) travel to Minas Tirith, the capital of Gondor. There, the two encounter Faramir (David Wenham) and Denethor (John Noble), Faramir’s father and the steward of Gondor. Most of the others are preparing for the great war with Sauron. Theoden (Bernard Hill), Eomer (Karl Urban), Eowyn (Miranda Otto), and Merry (Dominic Monaghan) are preparing Rohan’s horses for battle. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) continues to assume his responsiblities as the heir to the throne of Gondor, and takes Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) to recruit, um, powerful allies. On the other end of the adventure, Frodo (Elijah Wood) is being carried by Sam (Sean Astin) and Gollum (Andy Serkis)to the secret entrance to Mordor; all the while Frodo becomes more wary of who he can trust as the ring’s power grows.
The Battle of Helm’s Deep was a truly unrivaled spectacle in The Two Towers, which makes is shocking that the Battle of Pelennor Fields surpasses it. For one, there are several new types of creatures added to the battle, including ghouls, oliphants, horses, multiple orc species, and flying dragons which are integrated seamlessly into the battle. Jackson elects to have different groups arrive at different times to sway the battle for good or for evil. Each new arrival packs a different type of punch as well as challenge for each side. The dragons elevate the third dimension to literally new heights, and Minas Tirith is a fascinating city complete with levels, which adds more tension every time a new level is breached. By adding little victories/defeats inside a greater battle, the Battle of Pelennor Fields generates multiple genuine character moments in the midst of the massive battle, thus making it the new standard for how a battle needs to appear onscreen. The combined effort of makeup, special effects, acting, cinematography, and directing have crafted a visual masterpiece.
Not that the special effects were done. The best CGI spider I have ever seen appears halfway through the movie, equal parts terrifying and insurmountable. Gollum’s rough spots have been ironed out, reinforcing the shock that he is not an actual creature. The Eye of Sauron is also an awe-inspiring spectacle. When couple with the first-rate makeup, art, and cinematography, LOTR: Return of the King is unmatched in terms of generating a feeling from an image, background, or musical score.
What elevates the Return of the King over its predecessors is the long-awaited resolutions for every character and the manifestation of themes set up over the course of two epic movies. Themes like female equality, inner salvation, true friendship, embracing your destiny, and even the smallest creature can change the course of the future all receive varying levels of payoff throughout the Return of the King. The character evolution finally sees the end: Aragorn becomes a strong leader that others are willing to follow even into hopeless situations, Sam becomes Frodo’s fierce bodyguard gardener, and Merry and Pippin get to prove their worth to the battle. Each little victory widens the smile of the audience bigger and bigger.
Lots of the credit goes to the tapestry of actors, who get to shine brightest in the Return of the King. Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Elijah Wood, and Ian McKellan generate very complex emotions and several scenes of payoff for all the time we have spent with them, but the big standout is Andy Serkis. His Gollum is such a fully realized character: in one scene he can be viewed with pity, awe, anger, and mystery with one simple evolving stare. Although LOTR is a team effort, Serkis is the star. All of the other actors add the right amount of emotion to each of their characters, as much a credit to the writing as it is to the actors.
New Line Cinema took a huge gamble on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. They let Jackson film all three movies at the same time, and invested enough to bankrupt the company if it flopped. Fortunately for New Line, the investment paid for itself and then some. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a culmination of the vision of JRR Tolkien and Peter Jackson and the efforts of several hundred actors, writers, and workers. These people of Middle Earth can rest easy knowing they created the first great Trilogy of the new millennium, as well as the first Oscar-winning fantasy picture. The Lord of the Rings proudly stands alongside some of the greatest movies ever created. Once “The End” flashed across the screen, I experienced a euphoria I have never experienced since, and might never experience again.