Artist The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King
In the third part of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord Of The Rings, the burden of carrying the ring of power weighs more heavily on Frodo the closer he comes to his final destination. Director Peter Jackson doesn’t buckle under the burden of winding it down with The Return Of The King, either; in fact, he lets the weightiness define the film, as every gesture by the characters conveys a significance emphasized by Jackson’s slow, portentious approach. In the end, the time viewers invested in the first two films is paid off with a climax that places equal emphasis on both Wood’s personal struggle and an army-of-millions battle, with a denouement that gives a proper sendoff to characters who have become something like old friends.
Updated 01/11/2012
