Third one has wondrous 'Ring' to it
Leslie Gray Streeter, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
palmbeachpost.comSo here it is, the last weekend of this here holiday season, and you've spent these joyous days in the close company of your dearest friends and family. And frankly, they're starting to get on your nerves. So in the name of togetherness, you decide to head to the neighborhood megaplex, the better to engage in an activity where speaking to each other is not required.
If you're looking for a movie with enough action, romance and honest-to-Betsy awesomeness for the whole family, this is the time to check out The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which has been out for a good two weeks and has been the toast of much critical acclaim and general feet-kissing. Since other reviewers have weighed in, let me put down this fruitcake and throw my hat into the Ring.
Though this hasn't been a good year for trilogies -- The Matrix Revolutions took all the promise of the fantastic original and trashed it like a rock star's hotel room -- the movies of Peter Jackson's Ring trilogy have gotten better with every entry.
The first, The Fellowship of the Ring, was a slam-bang epic and a fine primer for those of us who haven't read J.R.R. Tolkien's classic books. (Like me. Fine. I admit it. I'm a cretin.) Then came The Two Towers, which introduced that sad and tragic "Preciousssss"-obsessed little creature, Gollum. Finally, we've got The Return of the King, and I've gotta say the third one's the charm.
Jackson's finale combines pretty much every element of fantastic filmmaking -- luscious cinematography, seamless computer graphics, powerful acting and Viggo Mortensen -- and swirls it into what will likely be a classic.
I'm not going to take the fawning-movie-ad-critic route and call Return of the King "an instant classic," because classics, by definition, cannot be made in an instant, and that's just stupid P.R. speak. But I'm fairly sure we'll still be gazing at it in amazement 50 years from now. It's got a better shot than The Matrix Revolutions, which will be remembered in the sad, cautionary tale way you remember Anna Nicole Smith or New Coke.
The last time we saw our heroes in The Two Towers, they were all pretty much a mess. Hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) were continuing their quest to destroy the dastardly ring, with duplicitous and crazy Gollum (a computerized version of actor Andy Sirkis) as their uneasy travel companion.
Meanwhile, reluctant future monarch Aragorn (Mortensen), ace elfin archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom), crusty dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and comic relief hobbits Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan) have just survived a horrific battle with the forces of darkness in Middle Earth.
Aragorn is on his way to fulfill his destiny as king, all the while pining for his elfin sweetie, Arwen (Liv Tyler, who makes me mad, because she can actually look beautiful as an elf). The strapping Aragorn has also caught the eye of human princess Eowyn (Miranda Otto). But he's got more pressing issues than girl trouble. See, there's a massive, be-all-to-end-all fight coming with the fearsome and smelly-looking orcs, and its outcome determines the fate of man-, elfin- and hobbitkind.
So you can see where Aragorn's reluctance comes from, huh?
As compelling as the battle story is, I found myself wanting to go back to Frodo and his struggle to resist the siren song of that evil ring. Elijah Wood is a former child actor who has retained his wide, little-boy face, so there's something horrifying about watching his big blue eyes twist into the obsessive glaze of a ring junkie.
Speaking of which... the ring and the movie are both almost stolen by Gollum, the used-to-be hobbit shriveled to a greedy, frantic shell by his lust for the ring. Gollum's a combination of actor Sirkis, some imaginative computers effects and, from the looks of it, one heck of an acid trip. His hollowed-out eyes, pitiful shriek and wrecked life are all the result of his obsession with jewelry. I look at this and think: Paris Hilton, this could be you.
Notice that I said Gollum almost steals the movie. That's because the heart and soul of Return of the King belongs to Sean Astin's sweet, loyal Sam. While Frodo's all freaking out, it falls to Sam to save his friend and the day. And The Actor Formerly Known as Rudy parlays the friendliness and sensitivity we expect of Sam into the determination to see the task of destroying the ring through to the end.
The Return of the King is the rousing finale that Return of the Jedi and The Matrix Revolutions should have been for their respective series but were not. It's going to be the movie of the holiday, so if you haven't seen it by now, drag those kids and Grandma to the minivan and go now. If you've already all seen it, sneak out and go see it again. They won't miss you all that much. Trust me.
The Flick Chick's Bottom Line: As Vanessa Williams once said, they went and saved the best for last. Yippee!