OxfordPress.com

Verdict: Long live the "King"!

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
Cox News Service

With "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," Peter Jackson brings his epic series to a glorious finish. And in doing so, he's made the greatest movie trilogy in cinema history.

Throughout his "Rings" cycle, the worry has been, how could Jackson possibly top himself? There are split opinions as to which is better: 2001's "LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring" or 2002's "LOTR: The Two Towers." But almost everyone agrees they are magnificent films. Now comes the culmination of J.R.R. Tolkien's monumental story, wherein both Frodo (Elijah Wood), the hobbit ring bearer, and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the uncrowned king, fulfill their destinies.

As in "The Two Towers," the movie splits our attention. One story line chronicles thunderous end-of-the-world battles pitting Aragorn and members of the original Fellowship - the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), the elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom), the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) - along with the rest of Middle-earth against the great evil, Sauron.

The other follows the perilous journey undertaken by Frodo, his loyal friend Sam (Sean Astin) and their potentially treacherous guide, Gollum (a digitally enhanced Andy Serkis), to the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor, where the Ring of power, the one Ring to rule them all, must be destroyed.

King ThŽoden (Bernard Hill), the restored-to-himself sovereign of Rohan, and his valiant warrior niece, Eowyn (Miranda Otto), return from the second movie. So does Faramir (David Wenham), brother of the brave, fallen Boromir (Sean Bean) from the first picture. The Elf King Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and his daughter, Arwen (Liv Tyler), betrothed of Aragorn, also appear. Each has a part to play as Sauron sends orcs, trolls, Nazgûl on flying, dragonlike monsters - everything but Hannibal Lecter and Bruce the Shark - to destroy those united against the spreading corruption of Mordor.

The battle of Pelennor Fields outdoes Helms Deep. Russell Crowe's Maximus never unleashed hell like this. Multitusked elephantlike behemoths called Mžmakil scoop up men by the hundreds and fling them to the ground. Or they crush them beneath their humongous feet (Jackson adds appropriately squishy noises). The Nazgûl swoop down and clutch dozens of warriors in their beasts' claws, then drop them from 1,000 feet. Catapults launch fireballs and the heads of dead comrades at the defenders of Minas Tirith, the gleaming white city - part castle, part cathedral - that marks Middle-earth's last stand.

Yet Jackson never loses the human side of the story. Denethor (John Noble), the half-insane steward of Minas Tirith, sends Faramir, his less-loved son, on a suicide mission. While the mad old man slurps down his dinner and forces a petrified Pippin to sing him a song, Faramir and his men ride into a valley of death worthy of the Light Brigade. On Pelennor Fields' battleground, Eowyn faces the fearsome Witch-king, the Lord of the Nazgûl.

Meanwhile, far away from the tumult and bloodshed, Frodo, Sam and Gollum move one exhausted step after another closer to Mount Doom. Or is it closer to their own doom? It's during this desperate, seemingly hopeless journey that Sam emerges as one of the heroes - if not the hero - of Tolkien's epic, his simple decency trumping Sauron's malice.

By now, we take Jackson's ability to create amazing spectacles for granted. His gift hasn't wavered - a series of bonfires to summon the riders of Rohan to the aid of Minas Tirith has a thrilling immensity as astounding as anything in "Lawrence of Arabia." Pippin discovers the wounded Merry on the battlefield and the camera pulls back from their joyous reunion to reveal they're sitting in the shadow of the gigantic corpse of a fallen Mžmakil.

The acting is spectacular, too. The ensemble nature of the trilogy makes it difficult to single out any one performance. Aragorn goes from ranger to king in Shakespearean style, rallying his troops with a speech that rivals "Henry V's" celebrated St. Crispian's Day exhortation. Frodo's suffering takes on a quasi-religious passion. McKellen's face glows with wisdom and honor. Boyd displays expert comic timing. And Serkis begs our compassion even as he courts our revulsion.

Some have accused "Return" of ending several times too often. Granted, there's a "Wizard of Oz" ending, a "Star Wars" (first trilogy) ending, even an ending reminiscent of "The Searchers." But in this case, too many endings are not enough. Each has its own resonance, and Jackson is clearly as loath to let these characters go as we are. In the very last image, he honors Tolkien's vision, which always treasured home and family over great deeds and heart-stopping perils. The simple proclamation "Well, I'm back," and a closed yellow door, reminds us that we, the audience, have our own destiny. We are meant to be part of the adventure, not its aftermath. We share the journey, but not the journey's ultimate prize.

Peter Jackson has taken us there and back again. And he's done it with a masterwork that truly is the one trilogy to rule them all.