Review of "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" (2003)

Review by Staci Layne Wilson for Horror.com

It's all over. The film trilogy of author J.R.R. Tolkien's immortal The Lord of the Rings books is history. So, will it make history and sweep the Oscars? I hope so.

Return of the King is indeed the crowning glory in what is quite possibly the best film trilogy ever made. For over three hours (not to mention the hour-early arrival time for the critics' screening) I sat spellbound, watching the stupendous saga come to fruition. Director/producer/screenwriter, Peter Jackson, along with co-writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, have done a fantastic job of bringing the spirit of the characters and visceral feel of the magical places to vibrant life once again. ROTK is undoubtedly the darkest, most terrifying - and satisfying - installment of the three.

The first film, The Fellowship of the Ring, commenced the history of a magical golden band created by the evil lord Sauron eons before, and introduced us to the fellowship of humans, hobbits, dwarves and elves, all of whom promised to see that the One Ring was destroyed once and for all. The Two Towers, the second in the trilogy, showed the evil opposition and the wars waged by dark and dastardly creatures who wanted to get the Ring for themselves, ended without resolution. Now in ROTK, everything comes to a resounding close.

The split personality creature, a Peter Lorre-esque Gollum/Smeagol (fantastically voiced  by - and this time seen - Andy Serkis), is even more a CGI accomplishment of the first order than he was in The Two Towers, if that's at all possible. His sly glances, surly hisses and spidery gallop are so very real. So are the nasty Orcs and their wolfish steeds; the all-seeing fiery eye of Sauron; the idyllic and pacific woodland home of the Elves; and the ambitious battle scenes... are all sheer eye-candy, riveting and ravishing the mind.

The players are interesting to look at too, and as in the book there's more and better character development this time around - Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) is as handsome and stoic as ever, Arwen (Liv Tyler) is still gently lovely, the Hobbits (Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd) are as chubby and fuzzy  as they were before, and Gandalf (the incomparable Ian McKellan) having been transformed from The Grey to The White in Fellowship, cuts an even more commanding figure as he rides his imposing ivory steed, Shadowfax, into the fray once more. The cinematography amps up the horse's natural gallop, effectively making him appear slightly supernatural.

You might miss a few characters of old: Brad Dourif, best-known as the voice of "Chucky" the murderous doll, was superbly snively as Wormtongue in the Two Towers, but you won't see him here, even in flashbacks. The main Ent, Treebeard (voiced by Gimli actor, John Rhys-Davies), has just a quick exit scene, and Cate Blanchett's Galadriel makes only a brief appearance.

Although Return of the King would never be classified as a horror film, it certainly is a deep-dark fantasy, and it is more scary and edge-of-the-seat than any horror movie I have seen all year. The primordial orcs and trolls are absolutely terrifying. Frodo's battle with Shelob the rapacious arachnid will turn your knuckles a whiter shade of pale. The Nazgûl are quite simply the stuff of nightmares. From the gloomy bowels of the tower of Cirith Ungol to the tippity-top of the desolate Mount Doom in the sinister land of Mordor, Jackson has brought forth some indelible horror imagery. I loved the recreation of The Paths of the Dead; they are not exactly as Tolkien wrote, but they are pretty phantasm-fantastic in their own right. Even if the books are still vivid in your mind, there is still genuine suspense and there are true moments of terror throughout ROTK.

While there is no arguing that ROTK is a big ol' behemoth of a special effects epic, not once is track of individual characters lost. Each one, good and evil, resonates. When a hard and gluttonous Denethor (John Noble) makes Pippin (Billy Boyd) sing him a little dinner music (the haunting tune was written and sung by the actor, himself), you feel the hobbit's discomfiture. When a wistful yet resolute Faramir (David Wenham) leaves his ungrateful sire to ride into a doomed battle in Osgiliath, you feel his desolation. When Samwise (Sean Astin) is set up my Gollum and cast out by a bamboozled Frodo, you feel his anguish. Never in the books, and never in the first two films, did I feel so deeply for all of these characters.

The attention to detail is beyond compare, and yet the enormous battle scenes (which I felt were impersonal and rather dull in Fellowship) are nothing short of stunning and vicariously painful this time around. If Eowyn's (Miranda Otto) fight to the death to save her uncle, Theoden (Bernard Hill), on the bloody battlefield doesn't move you then nothing short of a backhoe will. The deeply human emotions contrasted against the single-mindedness of evil monsters is brilliantly realized, making ROTK more than just a Sunday matinee. The majestic, sweeping long shots intercut with Old Master close-ups bring to mind Sergio Leone or David Lean on acid, with a dash of Hieronymus Bosch thrown in for good measure.

Although ROTK is true to the book in this regard, my only complaint - and it is a significant one - is that there are four endings in a row. There is one perfect, emotionally resounding ending, but we aren't left with that high to leave the theatre on. Instead, the impact trickles down to a drippy dribble, showing us exhaustive and anti-climatic follow-ups on the various characters, spanning years. Maybe in a novel you would want to have the "happily ever after" details but for cinematic purposes, there should be a hard-hitting ending and leaves the audience satisfied but dazzled. There is such an ending in the movie, but Jackson doesn't leave it at that.

Still, ROTK is an unparelled triumph in its genre. Laden with action and plot advancement, the passionate and literate writing and direction coupled with the detailed and expansive visuals, are nothing short of jaw-dropping. In this final film, all the plot threads are woven together into a peerless fairy tale, delivering emotional impact along with phenomenal visuals.