December 24, 2003

The Purist Review (many Spoilers)
Everett

Well, I saw RotK twice within its first 24 hours in the theater: the first midnight showing, and one at 7:45 PM, and now that RotK is in the theaters, I think it an appropriate time to make my return to the Forum.

Now, as you may have guessed from the title of my article, I will be putting forth a good deal of criticism of the movie, but I would like to start off on a positive note. As a movie, I thought it was amazing. The acting was solid, the script well written (if a bit cliched at points). The visuals were stunning, both the scenery and the special effects. Overall, the movie did a good job of sticking with the major themes of the book, and my problems with the movie are not thematic in nature.

Now, before I get into my criticisms of the movie, to those who think I have no right to voice criticism because I couln't do any better (I'd probably do a lot worse.), please read my Feb. 27 piece, "Re: It's Soooo Easy, Among Other Things", before you post a knee-jerk reply.

Anyway, on to the meat of the matter.

I had two overriding problems with the movie, both of which contributed greatly to most of my other problems with the movie. The first was the slaughtering of the dialogue. True, only some of it was lame or cliched--or both. However, it was too truncated. In the book, much of the character development is done using dialogue, and much of the foundation for the plot is built with it. In addition, the dialogue is also used to introduce new areas of the plot and even advance it. In the movie, the dialogue seems to be thrown in there as an hommage to Tolkien fans, while action is used to advance the plot. Take, for instance, the scene when Aragron calls on the dead to fulfill their oaths. Instead of merely declaring himself Isildur's heir and calling on them to fulfill their oath, a nice bit of melodrama occurs, culminating with the leader of the dead trying to kill Aragorn, and Aragorn parrying his stroke with Anduril.

This scene also shows my other major problem with the movie as a whole: the complete lack of subtlety. Everything was obvious and overblown. You knew exactly what all of the characters were thinking and why. Furthermore, Peter Jackson seems so intent on highlighting specific character traits (e.g. Denethor's madness) that all other character traits disappear.

Anyway, on to the specifics.

Frodo telling Sam to go home was entirely uncalled for and entirely out of character for Frodo on many levels (never mind that Sam actually left). For one, as loyal as Sam was to Frodo as his servant, Frodo was equally loyal to him as a master and had great faith and trust in him. Furthermore, Frodo was intelligent and wise and knew that Smeagol/Gollum was wicked and treacherous. For him to place his trust entirely in Gollum and send Sam away indicates a naivete borne of a pity for Gollum and a willingness to believe that Gollum had "come back" farther than he had.

The portrayal of Denethor in the movie was a caricature of Denethor's portrayal in the book. In the book, he is struggling to defend Minas Tirith against impossible odds. Add to this the grief he is suffering because of the death o his son, and he is indeed laden with a heavy burden, but he still strives against the forces arrayed against him and does so with great shrewdness. He is devoted to the cause of defending the city and is more than capable of doing it. Contrast this with the movie where he is already nearly gone. He hardly looks to the defense of his realm, and when he does, his only course of action is to send his son on a suicide mission.

His death is another problem. In the book, he is finally taken by despair and madness (caused, we find out, by using a palantir despite lacking the strength of will to wrest control of it from Sauron, making a nice contrast with Aragorn as well) and kills himself and nearly kills Faramir, knowing that he is alive. In the movie, Shadowfax kicks Denethor onto the fire, and Denethor the fireball runs off Mindolluin in a scene taken directly from John Carpenter's version of "The Thing".

Speaking of Shadowfax's role in Denethor's death, there were many problems with Gandalf's portrayal in the movie. For one, he despaired far too quickly and needed to have his spirits lifted by Aragorn. This is ridiculous. He is the wielder of Narya, the Ring of Fire, used to inspire Men, Elves and others to great deeds. Also, why did Gandalf stop Pippin in the middle of his offer of fealty to Denethor? And while we're at it, why did Gandalf physically assault Denethor with his staff when Denethor flipped his lid (and why did Denethor flip his lid so publicly?)? Both of these were out of character for Gandalf, not in keeping with his dignity and the amount of respect he showed to those in authority.

On a smaller note, how about that flashlight he used to scare away the Nazgul?

And what about the Nazgul? In the book, their primary weapon is fear. However, in the movie, their primary weapons are their dive-bombing steeds.

Which brings us to the recreation of the Battle of Hoth. And Darth . . . I mean Theoden's last words. And the Flood-er-the army of the dead (For those of you who don't know what the Flood is, play Halo.*) destroying the army of Minas Morgul, with the single most amusing point (unintentionally, I think) being when they brought down the oliphaunt.

I also wasn't aware that Minas Tirith and Osgiliath were half a mile apart.

Searchlight Sauron was silly.

Faramir was handled well, I thought, but his character was already ruined by TTT.

I'd also be interested in knowing who's in charge of Rohan at the end of the movie. It's not exactly clear at the end, especially because they never deal with the succession of Rohan.

The closest the movie ever comes to the idea that "The hands of a King are the hands of a healer," is "The hands of a King are the hands of a horse whisperer (see TTTEE, when Aragorn tames Brego).

Also, what about Arnor? We know Aragorn is the king of Gondor, but I can't recall any mention in any of the movies of Aragron's claim to the throne of Arnor and the re-establishment of it.

I did aprpeciate the glimpse of Faramir and Eowyn together, but no one ever deals with why they're seen together in the first place.

The Nazgul should have died as soon as the Ring was destroyed, but they were killed by the eruption of Mount Doom.

Why did the Men of the West wait until they were surrounded to fight?

Why did Mordor collapse into oblivion after the Ring was destroyed? And why did it only collapse where there were orcs and trolls and what-not?

Why did Elrond show up on his own and at night to deliver Anduril?

I'd like to close with a couple quotes that adequately reflect my opinion of the movie. The first comes from John J. Miller, over at National Review Online, and the second is from my housemate.

"At least it wasn't Dungeons and Dragons meets Conan the Barbarian."

"It was a great movie. I was very disappointed."

*I know RotK was filmed well before Halo was released. I'm not saying they aped the game. I'm just saying that's what came to mind.