December 23, 2003

My Last LotR Review
Jafo

Definite spoilers in this article!

Well, every year for the last three years I have submitted my review of the current LOTR release. This I guess will be my last. Perhaps Jackson will do a Hobbit movie and there will be more?

First, I was not that overwhelmed by FOTR, but was blown away by TTT. ROTK, well had bits and pieces of both of these reactions, but I have to say I was probably more disappointed then blown away.

Disappointment was going to be a factor regardless, as this trilogy was starting to become a traditional thing to do every December and now it is gone, but on to the movie.

I must seriously question Jackson's editing of this last film. There were so many things added that were not in the books that were completely unnecessary it really took away from this movie more than the previous other two. Changes that had nothing to do with time because the things they replaced in the books could have been represented in the same time period.

For starters, when Smeagol and Deagol were fighting over the ring, no mention it was Smeagols birthday. Why not?

To do what Jackson did with Saruman basically destroyed what could have been the best scenes in the movie. If he was going to cut him out, why even bother showing the scenes where they go to Isengard? It was really a disjointed part of the movie and someone watching the trilogy who had no knowledge of the books, would really have been thrown for a loop.

It is analogous to having a movie about WW II, showing D-DAY, and then skipping the conquest of Berlin and the fall of Hitler and going directly to Hiroshima.

To jump ahead, the ending of the movie when the fellowship was at the Grey Havens, there were was what seemed to me to be HOURS of staring and smiles, that really could have been better allocated to the fall of Saruman.

In fact, the ending I found to be the most dullest part of the movie. Yes, the Grey Havens were needed, but it was over embellished. If I had to choose which part went to the extended footage part of the DVD it would have been the Havens, not Saruman.

I myself am not that adverse to deviations in the books when it comes to cinematic logic, so I found the paths of the dead scenes very cool.

The battle of Pellenor fields was done very well. I thought they made Eowyn a bit too feminine in the scene, however. In the books, she appeared (to me at least) to be a woman bent on destruction. She even laughed at the Witch King. All she did was cry and wimper during the entire Witch King fight.

Denethor definitely could have been done better. Jackson basically portrayed him as a glutenous thief more along the lines of Grima. In fact, he even looked very similar to Grima. I didn't feel any compassion for Denethor like I did in the book. And instead of burning himself on the pyre as he did in the books, he catches on fire and jumps off the tower. That seemed to me to be a useless deviation. Also, there was no mention (unless I missed it) of his Palantir.

Farimir and Eowyn. Well, if you enjoyed that love story (the only real one that went into detail in the books), you must be really disappointed when you see it in the movie. Basically there is no love story between the two in the movie, they just end up standing next to each other at the wedding smiling. I guess they were there on a date, who knows?

The battle scenes at the black gate were probably the best part of the movie. Very emotional, very intense. The only thing I missed there was no bantering with the mouth of Sauron. The way the scene was cut, I have a feeling that will be in the extended edition. Again, other things could have been cut, but this one I could understand.

The Shelob scenes were adequate, however, unless I missed it, you never see Sam take the ring, although he coughs it up later and gives it Frodo, you never see him take it, or have any delusions of Grandeur with it. The only hint of the ring toying with him is when he was hesitant to give it back to Frodo.

The Mount Doom scene was great. I thought it pretty much stuck with the book there.

I was happy that Arwen never became a warrior princess however, I was rather upset as I stated before that Eowyn didn't get a little "Zenafied".

I have to say the most emotional part of the film for me was the battle at Pellenor fields. If you have ever enjoyed listening to Tolkien himself read this part in the book, you will enjoy this part of the movie. Harper Audio has the rights to this reading by the way and can be found here:

http://town.hall.org/Archives/radio/IMS/HarperAudio/020294_harp_ITH.html

I think Theoden was best portrayed in the entire movie with the exception of possibly Gandalf or Aragorn. I really felt that he was the Theoden I have been reading about all these years.

Bernard Hill gives the character an almost Shakespearean flavor. Hearing him cry "Ride to Gondor!" sent chills up my spine. The scene between him and Eowyn was heart breaking.

I guess when the extended edition of this movie comes out, many of my disappointments will be removed, but I still question whether Jackson was the best director for this movie.

To sum up, watch the movie, enjoy the movie, but don't replace your Tolkien books with the movie. They are two separate entities and in many aspects, two completely different stories.

To put all of the movies together in one lump and make a rating is difficult. Especially with a movie of this magnitude. I will have to say it was done adequately. A better director would have done a better job.