Saturday - December 20, 2003
Return of the King
The only word that can adequately describe this
movie is UNBELIEVABLE!!!
It's 3:30am
and I just got back from the theater, it was the earliest I could get to see
this film.
I didn't realize until a few
minutes afterwards, but during the Rohan cavalry charge I was gasping and crying
out loud "God Damn!" It was the best vision I've ever seen of battle scenes,
and it didn't stint on the theme of bravery. Each character faced the danger,
knowing it was dangerous and fought like hell. I was on the edge of my seat and
fighting my instinct to jump to my
feet!
I have very few things to
complain about, and as people who know me might expect, my opinion is probably
different from others.
I think Elijah Wood needs to get an Oscar for his
acting. He fits the role of Frodo better than anyone I can imagine. In fact, I
can't imagine anyone else possibly playing this role after seeing him in it.
This goes for every actor in this film with two
exceptions.
I hated Vigo Mortensen as
Aragorn. And Sean Aston did okay as Samwise Gamgee, but my god, if he cried in
one more scene I was going to scream. That's bad enough, but he's such a
terrible cryer.
Vigo is the worst
portrayal of Aragorn I can imagine being seriously proposed. First, he has
terrible posture. He's always bowing his head. He walks into a room and his
head is down, with the camera highlighting the way he raises his head. But his
head comes up while the rest of him slouches. He gives a pre-battle pep speech
and his head is down. He's supposed to be a king, he should enter with his head
already up.
Add to that his thin, high
pitched voice and he completely loses the image of a hero. A much better
example of the hero is the actor who played Theoden of Rohan. Even Faramir was
better portrayed by the actor even if they emasculated his character in the
script.
Vigo is just not imposing. And
what's with his total lack of grooming? A ranger is probably rough and ready,
but he most likely combs his hair and trims his beard once in a while.
There are many differences between the
book and the film, which is to be expected. It's a lot to pack in and the film
is already three and a half hours long. Many people have complained about the
scouring of the Shire being excised, but honestly folks, that would take way too
long to include.
This was the most
brilliant movie I can remember, and except for Vigo's lack of bearing and
Aston's constant cornball crying, I can't fault it one bit. The theme of
standing up and fighting for good, even in the face of nearly certain death, was
portrayed better than I've ever seen it done, and the battle scenes were the
most stirring I have ever seen.
Thank
you, Peter Jackson, for making this film.
Go Back to the Start, Do Not Collect $200 Send me your two cents
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