Revolutionary Moderation

All geeked out



I went to see The Return of the King last night, so my posting today is likely to be slim and sub-optimal. I might be a little tired.



What did I think of the film? Well, I think we're all too used to trilogies starting strong and getting weaker. I'm sure it's a function of producing the three films at once, but Return of the King avoids this trap, maintaining the same high standard as the first two. Essentially, if you liked them, you'll like this one. But Jackson is a little too in love with his sprawling vistas and lingering battle scenes to completely suit my tastes - he could have done without twenty or thirty minutes here, without losing any of the essential character of the film --- the same reaction I had to The Two Towers. Maybe I should quit seeing these movies at midnight.



The Globe and Mail review was perhaps the most critical I've read, but also possibly the most interesting, with its considerations of the homoerotic relationships and such. This bit spoke to most of all:

Director Peter Jackson's realization of this monumental Celtic fantasy of an evil, all-powerful ring, and the solidarity of supernatural and human heroes to defeat marauding hordes of monstrous subhumans, ends with a bang (and then ends again with less of a bang, and then ends with a few more smaller bangs for about another 40 minutes until the movie fades out).

This experience is felt doubly so at three am.