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the androgynous yet thoroughly badass elf, had defended what was left of King Theoden(Bernard Hill)’s kingdom of Rohan in the Battle of Helm’s Deep, crushing the forces of the traitorous wizard Saruman(the legendary Christopher Lee) in the process. Along the way, Aragorn went and got caught up in one of those damn love triangles, torn between his eternal, elf-eared love, Arwen(Liv Tyler) and feisty Rohanian princess Eowyn(the lovely Miranda Otto). Meanwhile, comic relief hobbits Merry(Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin(Billy Boyd) successfully helped the Ents(big-ass tree people) discover Saruman’s environmental atrocities and spurred them on to destruction: flooding his courtyard and surrounding his castle of Isengard. One tower, down, one to go: while our heroes Frodo(Elijah Wood) and Sam(Sean Astin) continue their quest in hopes of destroying the One Ring containing the soul and might of Sauron(our story’s Satanic, omnipresent uber-villain) in the fires of Mordor’s Mount Doom, the partially manifested Dark Lord himself is releasing an army from his tower of Barad-Dur to crush mankind before it can unite against him. At the same time, the insane Gollum(Andy Serkis), our hobbits’ tour guide, prepares to double cross them and reclaim the precious ring for himself.
That’s just the set-up. To summarize what happens in Return of the King’s shockingly brisk 200 minutes, the all-seeing eye of Sauron falls on Minas Tirith, capitol of Gondor; the last country of free men. As the movie opens, that army I told you about’s moving in for the kill, as Gondor’s acting steward, Lord Denathor(John Noble) refuses to do much of anything. Gandalf rushes in to rally the troops as the “Great Battle of Our Time” looms on the horizon. When it comes, it doesn’t disappoint. And neither does anything else in the film.
The Battle of Pelanor Fields will, quite simply, take your breath away. The most exciting part of the novel becomes the most exciting part of the film, and together, running a total of over an hour, it stands as the most epic vision ever put on film. While much has been said of Hollywood’s growing overindulgence in CGI, here the computer effects are used to a perfect degree. Portions of the battle are probably more animation than actual footage, but such tireless work has been put into it that it’s either tough to see what’s real and what’s not, or simply tough to care. It’s such a jaw-dropping sight that you won’t have room for any thoughts but “purty pictures”.
So on the epic level, the film succeeds brilliantly. But on the human level, well, the film succeeds brilliantly. The journey of Sam and Frodo is torturous and emotional, the revelations and maturations of Merry and Pippin are unpretentiously profound and the whole experience amounts to an emotional meat grinder. If you’re actively engaged in this film, and care at least somewhat for the fate of its characters, you’re going to tear up. Where? Take your ...
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