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The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
by Michael Flanagan

HUGE

 The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is great.  Great in the form of greatness – a film has not achieved this level of greatness in the span of my life.  This is the Gone With the Wind, the Wizard of Oz, the Lawrence of Arabia, hell, the Star Wars for those of us who were not old enough to experience these movies at the time they occurred.  This is comparable to the first time audiences saw a film with sound, or a film with color, done right.  And examined as a whole, as a complete story told, the film series that is Lord of the Rings is better than all of these were, and I expect for a very long time, better than anything like it will be.

 Return of the King is a beautiful, chest-heavingly emotional conclusion that stirs mind-blowing epic battle sequences and powerful, intimate character moments to provide a perfectly balanced, artistic piece of cinematic wonderment.  And that doesn’t do it justice.  I bow to director/screenwriter Peter Jackson and his colleagues, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.  To all of the production team.  And, of course, to J.R.R. Tolkien. And what they have created…

First, Gimli and Legolas – add them to the history of movie character duos and while you’re at it, throw them at the top of that list.  Heroic, Comedic, and Touching, these two skate as close to over-the-top as you can get in each of these categories – but stay firmly on the side of note-perfect.  The counting joke is almost overdone, but Gimli’s interruption of Legolas’ hero-shot hits it home with the tactical flair of Babe Ruth.  And the “friend” moment comes so close to gushy feel-good that it…redefines gushy feel-good and makes it absolutely work.  Laughter, Cheers, and Tears do not seem to be enough of a reaction to these two, but for now, it will do.

 Merry and Pippin.  Peter Jackson’s way of saying character arcs can be subtle, do not have to be in-your-face transformations, and getting high and drinking are okay…as long as you’ve taken down an army of orcs from atop an ancient, talking, walking tree.  From mischievously setting off fireworks to rushing into battle with a full acceptance (and understanding) of death and death’s worth, these two characters satisfy the adventuresome nature of the inner-Irish-adventurer-who’s-too-lazy-to-leave-the-pint in all of us.

 Aragorn.  All hail the king.  Aragorn’s taking of the sword, the power, and the throne is strangely quiet, but with a title that gives away the ending, and a life of battles that has been certainly anything but quiet, perhaps this is the finest way.  Aragon takes his place in the halls of heroes who have given great speeches for his armies, and he sits side-by-side with Henry V.

 Gandalf, oh Gandalf.  Whether Gray or White, he is the wise old man we should all be so lucky to have in our lives, even for a while.  Plus, he can kick some serious ass with a staff and a sword.  In King, these are both epitomized in the developed relationship between Gandalf and Pippin.  His defense of the hobbit is a display of swordplay to be reckoned with, and his explanation of death, and the afterlife, is the closest the series comes to its finest intimate moment, the one in Fellowship, Gandalf and Frodo discussing Smeagol.

 Frodo Baggins, nephew, ring bearer.  The change in appearance of Frodo from Fellowship to King is in many ways more startling than the Smeagol-to-Gollum transformation.  And it’s not just makeup.  It’s his eyes, his movements, the way he carries himself.  The innocence of Frodo is the greatest casualty in Tolkien’s War.  He’s a character who spends the series bearing a magical ring that can destroy existence fighting with a glowing blue sword named Sting, and yet he’s the most true-to-life character in the story.  But more on that in a bit.

 Samwise Gamgee.  With all the emotion I feel writing this review the tears come for Sam.  His heroism exists in his nobility, his loyalty, and his decision to live his life out of this above everything else.  I am not a religious person, at least not in the affiliated context people seem to give the phrase “religious person,” but when Sam says “I cannot carry the burden for you, but I can carry you,” I was reminded of the poem “Footsteps.”  Too often a character is defined as a Christ figure because he sacrifices his life physically for the greater good of a group.  In this case, Sam is willing to sacrifice everything for Frodo out of this loyalty, this love and friendship the hobbits share, and I believe there is no greater example of living out of the teachings of many religions than this.  The friendship between Frodo and Sam is the quintessential definition of love, and what it is and should be.

The other characters in this trilogy, those who we met throughout, or who left us earlier in the story, find their proper cinematic end in King.  Theoden’s death is touching, powerful, and rightly brief, yet during this he does a comedic double tick with the use of about one muscle in his brow and it is truly brilliant. Eowyn finally takes her place as a heroine, and her face-off with the Witch King is truly one for the books.  Gollum’s story arc, and its end in this film…simply amazing.  Beginning the film with his story, and the true nature of it, and the use of CGI throughout, is masterful storytelling and technicality.  And the many other characters in the series are all used with a true artist’s brushstroke throughout.

 As to the actor’s who portray them all…applause, much less words, would not be enough to express what they have brought to cinema with these performances.

 Finally, the ending.  What is truly wonderful about the ending of Return of the King is the true underlying sadness that most honestly depicts the nature of the human condition, be it in hobbit, elf, or wizard.  To me, King ends atop Minas Tirith, with the celebration.  All the somewhat-criticized endings that follow are concluding what will be over a 12-hour story of Lord of the Rings.  They are all relevant, necessary, great, and I hope to see more on the extended edition DVD.  And they all carry the weight of the ring, in a way.

 Even the celebration crowning of Aragorn takes place with a slightly melancholy undercurrent.  Arwen’s reappearance is wonderful, beyond romantic, and beautiful, and the knowledge of the child they will have together is fraught with goodness.  But we have seen the conclusion of that story.  In Towers, when her father warns her that Aragorn will die and she won’t, and we see Arwen standing at his grave, we see her everlasting ending.  There is sadness to this, but here is another sacrifice for love, and a worthy one, for their child and their future, and the future of the people.

 The monologue of Frodo’s that asks how one returns to a normal life after he has seen war is pure Tolkien.  Just as the truest moments of the series resonate in our own history, and in current affairs, this strikes a chord that, sadly, Toklien could not answer.  Frodo has been through too much to stay in this world of pumpkin celebrations and pints, and in the true nature of fantasy, he is allowed to escape with his uncle Bilbo, Gandalf, and the elves.  Even Bilbo, who has had years to recover from the ring and his adventures, still aches for both.  There is no place in this world for such survivors.

 Which leads to the scene on the docks, before the exit to the Gray Havens.  The tears, I think, are real.  This is a Goodbye, one last chance for these friends to say what they need to, and they say it all with their eyes, their tears.  There is much to be said about this, but I can’t find the words, and majestically, neither could they.

 And the ending.  Why does this epic series end with Sam, with his family, his (and Sean Astin’s) daughter, with a shot of a little round door in a hole?  This is the answer to the whole of the story.  This is an answer to doing what we can in the time given to us, this is the good worth fighting for, and this is a place to find yourself, no matter what you have seen or been through, what horrors faced, what wounds survived…this is Home.

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