Lord of the Rings, a masterful gamble.

This was my first movie review. But since it did not have much to do with the plot of the movie and lots to do with the creation of the movie I have had to modify it somewhat and file it in a different category. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. For those of you keeping score with the plot of the movie, the title gives it away, something Tolkien himself was not too keen on when they split his oversized novel into three separate books. This is the best of the three movies and the greatest film of 2003, probably one of the best of all times.

First thing to know about the movie, this is part three of a trilogy. A trilogy of movies gives you the freedom to slow your story arc and concentrate on character development. Of course most of the franchise movies we are accustomed to are not built with this advantage because it is not until the first feature makes a big profit that the other films are even bankrolled. Of course that mold was broken here as Peter Jackson convinced New Line Cinema to fund three movies, filmed at once, that would tell this epic story of right and wrong. For this single bit of daring and gambling I would think Peter Jackson and New Line should walk home with every award Hollywood and the international film scene can give. Hollywood especially is not into taking risks, that is why we see so many sequels; they are guaranteed to have name recognition. So a risk of this magnitude, which pays off not only in making so much money but in advancing the artistry of filmmaking, should be roundly rewarded.

Interest in the fantasy genre ebbs and wanes, it produces less consistent material as a genre than science fiction or westerns because each fantasy film creates its own world with its own set of values and rules. Whether we as an audience can relate to this fantasy experience is what determines how we are able to react to it. Now the novels from which these movies were derived were watershed books of their time about the battle between good and evil and the humanity that is forsaken, and discovered, in war. Tolkien wrote The Lord of The Rings in his own quest for understanding of evil in the world following the events of World War I. Of course great source material does not a good film make. From this very material was created a dark and confusing animated film in 1980 which did nothing to involve the viewer in what can be seen as a tedious journey. Of course Peter Jackson has taken some liberties with the text, editing out many of the scenes and characters that added richness to the world of the Hobbits but did little to propel the story. Any time that a book is adapted to a film this has to be expected, considering the limited run time of a film, but here Jackson was able to deftly remove the excess without cutting the story and its characters to the bone, and in creating a film that is well paced and exciting. Peter Jackson has remained true to the spirit of the writing and has produced his own masterwork in portraying the heroic saga on film.

By the third movie all of the bugs have been worked out, nearly all of the important characters introduced, and the story’s progression can take the center stage. The casting, at first suspect, has been a major coup and there will be few in the theater who will doubt the friendship between the Hobbits Frodo and Sam, and their portrayers Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, which is so elemental to the emotion of the story. As well, the storytelling methods of Jackson are now familiar to the audience. Jackson takes us back and forth through the fractured Fellowship from Frodo and Sam in Mordor, to Merry in Rohan, Pippin and Gandalf in Gondor, to the three hunters Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli in the Dead Lands. Anyone who has read the books can attest that though it may feel jumpy going from character to character, the pacing is far superior to the Book I, Book II format of the novels, which tended to drag in the Frodo parts. It also helps to maintain the narrative timeline as Jackson points out. In the third film I expected to see Shelob much earlier and could barely stand the tension building up to the inevitable meeting. But chronologically Shelob appears well after Helm’s Deep during the Battle of Pelennor Fields.

These phenomenal movies come to a worthy conclusion in The Return of the King. The epic battles seen at the beginning of Fellowship and the end of Towers now reach their full flowering in the battle of Pelennor Fields. The effects in the film are a marvel, as they were in the other two movies, but unlike many of the CGI monstrosities released these days this film does not neglect its characters in favor of expensive effects. The movie provides the actors with the calm before the battle in which they develop their qualities and are able to question their part in the adventures that befall them.

It is seldom that the modern Academy looks at big profitable films, though this seems to have changed recently, but even rarer that it gives awards to a science fiction or fantasy film. The ensemble works so seamlessly here that none of the actors were even nominated for awards. Not to mention, how do you nominate an actor who is never seen onscreen, whose work consists entirely of CGI action and voice over as Andy Sirkus’ did? The Academy might have skirted addressing it this year, but it is a question that will come up more frequently and needs a satisfactory answer. The feat of creating these three masterful movies at one time, and having the daring to invest the time and money into such a massive undertaking, shows so much daring and creativity that it would truly be a crime if Jackson and New Line Cinemas walk away empty handed on Oscar night. Luckily, as long as we have these wonderful films to pass down for generations to come, we have not gone away empty handed. Lord of The Rings: The Return of The King is a fitting finale to a wonderful trilogy and the odds on favorite to win Oscar gold as it has already swept awards in most of the other major awards groups.

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1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King