Last night, immediately after the movie, I really didn't want to think too much about it. I just wanted to let it soak in.
Today I can think a bit about it, and offer some thoughts.
I loved the movie. It was a fitting conclusion to the series and it was emotionally satisfying with plenty of everything you need in a great fantasy story.
It's really impossible to review this movie as an actual movie. The Tolkien story is so much a part of my own "back story" that nothing else can really compare. On the one hand, if PJ just put together a series of vignettes, each showing a scene from the book in his incredible reenactment of Middle Earth, I'd still be thrilled.
I think that's why I love Fellowship so much. I was too busy picking my jaw off the ground in awe over the visualization of everything I had been imagining since the age of 9 to really worry about pacing or story. By TTT that stuff was more taken for granted, and even Gollum and Helm's Deep (both incredible achievements) couldn't take away my disappointment at the changes in the story and pacing. In a way, ROTK has the same problem. Even the characters are firmly-enough established, most of them. Sure, there are lots of "wow, cool" moments, but in the end I'm still left slightly distracted the whole time as my brain collates all the changes and omissions.
As with TTT I think this movie will grow on me with repeated viewings, as I grow to appreciate the movie's pacing and story on its own instead of thinking of it as a telling of the book with some things left out and changed.
I think the biggest problem I have with it is a problem that's overwhelming in the book as well. The main story finishes and then wraps up everybody else's story for chapters and chapters. And yet after all we've invested in these people, you want to see it all wrap up. And that feeds into what I said before. It's not that it would make a better movie to spend an extra hour after the Ring is destroyed wrapping up all the stories, it's just that all the post-Ring stuff is a part of my memory of the story and I would love to see it put into visual form.
For me, the high points of the movie (that I can remember off the top of my head) were:
- The Witch King and his Fell Beast. Handled very well.
- Heck, every time a Fell Beast was on screen.
- Every time anyone sang, especially Pippin's song to Denethor.
- Aragorn's transformation into the King and his acceptance of his duty.
- Theoden's redemption and restoration as a Kingly figure. They did a great job with Rohan, period.
- Elrond's face as he "delivers" Arwen to Aragorn.
- The return to Hobbiton.
- Minas Tirith itself; you really could understand Boromir's statements in the first movie about his love of the city.
- Comic Relief well done but not overdone.
- Gandalf taking charge, well done but not harped on.
- Eowyn, Pippen, and the Witch King. An iconic moment from the books brought to us almost word for word.
- Almost all the effects were outstanding.
- Sam carrying Frodo.
- Sam and Frodo realizing they're doomed and finishing the quest anyway.
- Sam and Frodo at the end. I'm glad PJ didn't shy from portraying their closeness.
- (I'm sure there's more, but this is off the top of my head)
Lower points:
- The pacing of the climb+spider+tower for Sam/Frodo/Gollum just felt off. We go from a couple minor fights to a full-fledged massacre in the tower in like 10 seconds.
- The march to the Black Gate + Sauron's diversion of forces to it happened too quickly.
- Pippin and Denethor ... the complexity here was a bit lost as Pippin felt overwhelmed with debt to serve this man and yet terrified by his madness. It all happened too quickly and you just felt like he was trying to tell too much.
- The head Orc in the siege on Minas Tirith looked like something out of Toxic Avengers.
- Denethor's madness not sufficiently explained. He had a Palantir, man, and it's been driving him mad. How is this the same man that inspired such loyalty in his two sons? We just don't see it. Denethor just doesn't come across as tragic enough.
- Ok, Legolas is badass. The single-handed Mumakil-slaying was a bit overkill. Just let this guy loose on the Pellenor Fields and the battle's over.
- The Army of the Dead singlehandedly turning the battle so dramatically felt a bit weird. I honestly don't remember how it's portrayed in the book.
- We never see Eomer grieve for King Theoden.
- Somewhat cheesy effect shots: Legolos + Mumakil, Shelob wrapping Frodo in silk.
Not to mention things which were missing which distracted me in their absence, but which perhaps aren't really low points in the movie, just things which bugged me as a Tolkien fan.
- Aragorn never directly challenges Sauron. There's this great moment where Aragorn grabs a Palantir and directly challenges Sauron. It's a big part of his accepting the mantle as King, and a big part of why the distraction works.
- Pippin's friendship with the son of the guard in Minas Tirith.
- Faramir + Eowyn in the Houses of Healing
- Aragorn proving his right to rule by fulfilling the prophecy about being a healer.
- No wrap-up for Saruman.
- Not enough new characters. There's Prince What's-his-name (Imrahil?), and those Pukel-men or whatever. Hmm. As you can tell, these are obviously not that important to me as I can't remember much about them. But in any case, I waited for them and they weren't there
.
- Wrapup story for Legolas and Gimli missing.
- No "Mouth of Sauron" character at the Black Gate.
Anyway. I loved the movie. I'll see it a few more times and buy it over and over again on DVD
. Don't get the wrong impression.
