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Less Prattle, More Battle
Jan. 20th, 2004 03:42 pmFeeling pretty unmotivated today - unlike the weekend, in which I was a virtual blur of activity, today I'm kind of depressed. A nice lunchtime viewing of Kikaida aside (featuring the female "Pink Armadillo" monster, whose human alter ego was as a girl in a Pepto-pink leotard and handkerchief mini-skirt combo... first rubber-suit monster I've seen to still have breasts in monster form), it's been a hard slog just to keep going. I may have to stoop to going to the grocery store for a chocolate mood lifter...
But anyway, saw Return of the King, finally. Really enjoyed it, which was sort of a surprise. I'd been left fairly cold by the first two films - having read the books years ago, both movies seemed like dutifully faithful coverage of too-familiar ground. Gorgeous to look at, but hardly new information, a few key scenes aside ("beautiful and terrible" Galadriel, scary Bilbo, etc.). Return of the King is the first film of the series that really spoke to me as being directed by the same guy who did The Frighteners - Peter Jackson is grooving on the material far more here than either of the other movies, and I actually approved of the alterations (such as the addition of the Arwen's-life-is-connected-to-the-Ring concept) and condensing choices. As much as I lament the loss of more Saruman (like I would pass up the chance to see more Christopher Lee), I can understand why the Shire epilogue was shortened - the film already has something like five endings, and there's only so much epic an audience can sit through without an intermission. And the normal life of faithful Sam comes off, in the final analysis, as the point of the whole journey. Which is as it should be.
Best moments: The lighting of the beacons - a wonderful image that is both marvelously symbolic and brings your concept of Middle Earth communications to life; Eowyn's face-off with the Nazgul king; the awesome army of the dead; the masonry-hurling seige of Minas Tirath; the march of the Dali-esque Oliphaunts. Minas Tirath itself is a stunning creation - I believed in the solidity of that city totally. Awesome.
Still unimpressed by the magic of CG, a.k.a. Gollum. Especially when the film opens with the live actor who provides his voice and upon which his appearance is based. Why couldn't the whole thing have been done with him and a bit of digital paintboxing? I was still more distracted by that digital effect flapping around than I should have been considering the importance of the character.
Still, Jackson gets major points for calling out all the story's most important elements - the Christian allegory of Frodo's journey wasn't lost in the shuffle (touchingly summed up in the one scene where Aragon tells the hobbits "you bow to no one" and the whole assemblage of Great Persons kneels to the humble foursome), and if some characters were simplified (such as Denethor), others were gratefully pumped up, such as Theoden and Eowyn. And yes, the orcs. I must say, I always appreciate it when the heroes aren't just standing off against faceless hordes. One charismatic orc leader goes a long way....
But anyway, saw Return of the King, finally. Really enjoyed it, which was sort of a surprise. I'd been left fairly cold by the first two films - having read the books years ago, both movies seemed like dutifully faithful coverage of too-familiar ground. Gorgeous to look at, but hardly new information, a few key scenes aside ("beautiful and terrible" Galadriel, scary Bilbo, etc.). Return of the King is the first film of the series that really spoke to me as being directed by the same guy who did The Frighteners - Peter Jackson is grooving on the material far more here than either of the other movies, and I actually approved of the alterations (such as the addition of the Arwen's-life-is-connected-to-the-Ring concept) and condensing choices. As much as I lament the loss of more Saruman (like I would pass up the chance to see more Christopher Lee), I can understand why the Shire epilogue was shortened - the film already has something like five endings, and there's only so much epic an audience can sit through without an intermission. And the normal life of faithful Sam comes off, in the final analysis, as the point of the whole journey. Which is as it should be.
Best moments: The lighting of the beacons - a wonderful image that is both marvelously symbolic and brings your concept of Middle Earth communications to life; Eowyn's face-off with the Nazgul king; the awesome army of the dead; the masonry-hurling seige of Minas Tirath; the march of the Dali-esque Oliphaunts. Minas Tirath itself is a stunning creation - I believed in the solidity of that city totally. Awesome.
Still unimpressed by the magic of CG, a.k.a. Gollum. Especially when the film opens with the live actor who provides his voice and upon which his appearance is based. Why couldn't the whole thing have been done with him and a bit of digital paintboxing? I was still more distracted by that digital effect flapping around than I should have been considering the importance of the character.
Still, Jackson gets major points for calling out all the story's most important elements - the Christian allegory of Frodo's journey wasn't lost in the shuffle (touchingly summed up in the one scene where Aragon tells the hobbits "you bow to no one" and the whole assemblage of Great Persons kneels to the humble foursome), and if some characters were simplified (such as Denethor), others were gratefully pumped up, such as Theoden and Eowyn. And yes, the orcs. I must say, I always appreciate it when the heroes aren't just standing off against faceless hordes. One charismatic orc leader goes a long way....
