The Trilogy Concluded
Main Cast: Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin
Director: Peter Jackson
The trilogy concludes with more war and strife, blackness, despair, and a very close and exciting ending to the ring itself in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Frodo (Wood) and Sam (Astin) plod on through Mordor, led by the psychotic Gollum (voice of Andy Serkis). Frodo barely holds on to his own self against the power of the ring, and Sam picks up the slack and shows that he is a true hero. Meanwhile, Aragorn (Mortensen) comes into his own and finally fulfills his destiny, taking up the reigns of power and leading the armies against the forces of Sauron. And finally, Gandolf (McKellen) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) are forced to deal with the insane king Denethor (John Noble), ruler of Minas Tirith and bastion of the human rule over Middle Earth.
There is plenty of action in Return of the King, with all the broken fellowship coming into their own. The hobbits prove they are just as brave as the rest, and Aragorn quietly and firmly takes command and holds off the armies for Frodo to do his duty and destroy the ring. But Frodo has problems of his own, finally duped by Gollum and led into a trap. Sam has to take over and, in one of my most favorite sequences, shows his strength of will and drags Frodo over the blackest hump and onto Mount Doom itself.
This is a rip-roaring, exciting tale well told and wraps up all the loose threads of the plot. While the ending goes on, and on, and on… you get the idea, I think it is needed to show all the main characters (and the minor ones) and to bring this wonderful tale to a satisfying close. A very solid ending, and a very good movie too, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King is a definite must-see.
More LOTR:
Leave a Reply