Flawless finale wraps up 'Lord of Rings' movie trilogy

Wednesday, December 17, 2003

By Ron Weiskind, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

And so we come to the end of it.

MOVIE REVIEW

Viggo Mortensen plays Aragorn, a reluctant hero who helps defeat the ancient evil of Sauron in the New Line Cinema movie trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's epic "The Lord of the Rings. (New Line Cinema Productions) 'THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING' Rating: PG-13 for intense epic battle sequences and frightening images. Players: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen. Director: Peter Jackson. Critic's call: Click photo for larger image. Related Story: Tolkien's trilogy harbors Christian themes

Intrepid hobbits Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee, against all odds, have survived their journey through the enemy's heartland and stand at the threshold of Mount Doom. They have come to cast the One Ring of power into the molten fires within. Destroying the ring will also defeat the hopes of the dark lord Sauron to spread his terrible reign throughout Middle-earth.

Their remarkable story is remarkably told in Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which concludes with an all-but-flawless final installment, "The Return of the King."

Yet one of the most fascinating things about these monumental films is the happenstance of their timing.

The first movie in the series, "The Fellowship of the Ring," came out three months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks shattered the sense of security that the United States had enjoyed to that point.

In that first film, Sauron begins gathering his armies and issuing a chill wind that reaches all the way to the placid and peaceful Shire, home of the fat and happy hobbits, some of whom are stirred from their complacency to undertake dangerous missions to faraway lands.

The title of the second movie, "The Two Towers" (coined by Tolkien in a novel first published in 1954), reverberates with its unknowing allusion to 9/11. Now, the final entry, "The Return of the King," opens three days after the capture of Saddam Hussein.

"The Lord of the Rings" may be a fantasy, but the evil that men do leaves behind bitter evidence of its substance. If only we could make it disappear as easily as tossing a ring into a molten river.

But what am I saying? There is nothing easy about the path Tolkien's characters have followed in their seemingly impossible quest. In the process, they demonstrate the full measure of such values as courage, leadership, selflessness, loyalty, perseverance.

In an age of largely anonymous heroes, many wearing either military or civilian uniforms, "The Return of the King" vividly reminds us of the larger-than-life qualities we used to demand of our more public role models.

It is all the more thrilling, then, to watch the once and future king Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) set a grim look on his face and march to battle; to hear Theoden (Bernard Hill), ruler of Rohan, stir his men to arms with a "Henry V"-style speech delivered on horseback; to watch his daughter, Eowyn (Miranda Otto), stand in his defense against the diabolical witch king; and even to see Faramir (David Wenham) willingly submit to a suicide mission in loyalty to his faithless father, Denethor (John Noble), steward of Gondor, who loses no matter who wins.

He's not the only character whose vices elevate the virtues of others. The steadfast devotion of Samwise (Sean Astin) to Frodo (Elijah Wood) stands in contrast to the treachery of their untrustworthy guide Gollum (a computer-animated Andy Serkis), who is himself of two minds -- he argues with the remnants of his wholesome self, a fisherman named Smeagol (the movie begins by showing his first encounter with the ring and the corruption it engendered).

Much of the movie carries a somber tone, appropriate to the destruction that ensues in the epic battle scenes. When release finally comes, when the burden finally is lifted and the survivors of the original fellowship reunite, the movie unlocks a flood of emotion that is palpable.

So does the return to a pristine Shire, which comes as a relief after all that our hobbit heroes have been through. But a bittersweet finale remains. Screenwriters Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillippa Boyens have managed to maintain the essence of Tolkien even while excising some of the detail in movies that each run at least three hours ("Return of the King" is the longest at about three hours and 20 minutes).

	Director Peter Jackson waves in front of the CineStar cinema at the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin last week where the European premiere of "The Return of the King" the final film in the Jackson's movie version of the epic J.R.R. Tolkien "Lord of the Rings" trilogy was taking place. (Jan Bauer, Associated Press) Click photo for larger image.

Like the other films in the trilogy, "The Return of the King" is a towering technical achievement. Credit is due to cinematographer Andrew Lesnie, production designer Grant Major and the special-effects crew. The computer animation never looks fake, although Jackson may have taken the easy way out with a ghost army that Aragorn commands. He makes up for it in the scene featuring the giant spider Shelob.

The film's score by Howard Shore skillfully uses many of the motifs familiar from the earlier movies but supports the emotions of the drama at all times, managing to be noble but never arrogant.

That brings us to the actors. The characters in "Return of the King" to some degree have less to do as individuals because so much of the film employs the group dynamic of combat.

The wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) fills the leadership vacuum left by Denethor, looking as stalwart and powerful as a biblical patriarch. Aragorn, who has as much at stake as anyone, leads by example. The humorous banter of Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) is played down, Arwen (Liv Tyler) seems to exist almost as a dream and Saruman (Christopher Lee) has been excised entirely from the film.

But characters like Theoden and Eowyn rise to the fore -- and, for that matter, the heretofore bungling hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd).

And then there is the trilogy's most valuable player and perhaps most underappreciated asset -- Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee, that plump and earthy hobbit whose dogged devotion and undying friendship with Frodo carries them both through unimaginable obstacles, including Gollum's scheming to drive a wedge between them.

It is fitting that Samwise gets the last shot of the trilogy's final film. Frodo lives, as the old 1960s slogan said, but Sam endures. He embodies all the best qualities of the champions around him and none of their grandeur. He is truly the anonymous hero, the unsung warrior who returns safely to hearth and home.

Would that the movie reflects real life in this aspect as well.

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