The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (December 21/03)

After the execrable second installment of the Lord of the Rings series, last year's Two Towers, the chances of The Return of the King ending Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's saga on a high note were slim. Fortunately, Jackson has eschewed many of the elements that made The Two Towers such a thundering bore and turned this one (the longest of the series, at around three and a half hours) into just the sort of exciting and thoughtful adventure hardcore fans seemed to believe the second one was.

That's not to say that the movie is quite the masterpiece a lot of folks have been saying it is; the film is still jam-packed with a lot of tedious moments, mostly having to do with characters that haven't been interesting since the first film. Like The Two Towers, The Return of the King doesn't bother with a refresher course for the uninitiated; if you've not seen the first two, don't even bother with this one. Frodo (Elijah Wood), Samwise (Sean Astin), and Gollum (Andy Serkis) are continuing on their quest to Mordor, where the all-powerful One Ring is to be destroyed. Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and his band of warriors (including Hobbits Pippen and Merry) are preparing for an epic war against the evil Orcs.

The Return of the King opens with a closer look at one of the most annoying characters to emerge from this series, Gollum. We learn what caused the transformation from Smeagol to Gollum, though the character remains useless (he contributes nothing to the story nor does he advance the plot). Fortunately, Gollum receives little screen time this go around, which is also true of other irritating figures from The Two Towers (Treebeard being the most obvious example of this). The first hour is, in fact, fairly reminiscent of the two movies that preceeded this one - ie there are many sequences featuring just the sort of clunky dialogue that plagued Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers - and Jackson continues to show no interest in keeping those of us who haven't read the novels completely aware of what's going on. This is primarily true of all the stuff dealing with Gandalf (Ian McKellen), and his quest to unite the various factions (including a leader with a hatred for his surviving son, and another that insists on joining the battle). That it's barely made clear who all these people are and what they're about has a lot to do (presumably) with Jackson's insistence on staying completely faithful to Tolkien's source material.

But once you get past that first hour, The Return of the King essentially becomes a flat-out ride - filled to the brim with exciting action sequences and even a few touching moments. The highlight of the movie is easily an epic battle between thousands of Humans and Orcs, which takes up the bulk of the film's midsection. Unlike that similarly grandiose skirmish in The Two Towers, which was virtually impossible to enjoy because it was shrouded in darkness and rain, this fight manages to enthrall throughout primarily because it's always apparent exactly what's happening. And just when it as though it can't get any better, these enormous elephants come stomping onto the battle field - stepping on anyone that gets in their way, while brushing people aside with their gigantic tusks. In terms of sheer coolness, that short sequence rivals anything in the history of cinema (no, really). Likewise, a fight between Frodo and a monstrous spider is incredibly well done and exciting (kudos to Jackson's special effects company for creating an exceptionally realistic-looking giant spider).

The performances, as in the first two films, are secondary to the spectacle; none of these characters really become all that compelling, though by the time the end rolls around, it's hard not to feel something for a select few of them (Frodo being the most obvious example of this). After all the fighting and excitement, there comes a moment at which the film could end perfectly (it's virtually impossible to miss) and yet Jackson keeps the story going for an additional 15 minutes. The movie's refusal to end will likely test the patience of even the most ardent Lord of the Rings fan, and it's a shame that the series ends on such a flat note. Still, there's no denying that The Return of the King is, viscerally, one of the most exciting movies to emerge out of Hollywood in a good long while. And despite the absolute mediocrity of The Two Towers, Jackson and his crew should be proud of what they've accomplished.