Mrs. Bracegirdle
12-18-2003, 09:41 AM
Hello fellow members,
Well, sadly, this is my least favourite of the films. TOO long, which I wouldn't have minded if the additional minutes were spent on worthwhile storytelling. But they were not.
Overall impression - too much reliance on CG effects to elicit shock and awe. Too much reliance on tear stained hobbit cheeks to elicit sadness and pity. Too much reliance on Gandalf gazing into the horizon and uttering solemn pronouncements to elicit a sense of foreboding. Entire story lines and characters "forgotten". Clumsy interweaving of the final threads of the story lines. (Though one cannot fault PJ et al entirely for this, as I have always felt that Tolkein was all thumbs in this aspect in the final third of ROTK. However, that wouldn't have prevented PJ for "fixing" the problems. I think he was just tired and overwhelmed and gave up. )
Highlights:
Pippin singing a Hobbit dirge as the Gondorian warriors ride to their certain deaths. Glorious and heartrending.
Gollum/Smeagol/Andy - masterful performance/rendering.
Hobbits and their actors. Bravo!
Legolas bringing down the Oliphaunt. How cool was that??
Legolas in his princely elven garb at the coronation - we forget in the first two movies that he IS a prince. It was lovely to be reminded of it.
Minas Tirith - painstakingly evocative.
The lighting of the signal fires - a gorgeous cinematic moment.
BIG (no - HUUUUGE) disappointments:
No Saruman. Need I say more?
Faramir/Eowyn? Where is their story? Where is the House of Healing? Wha???????????
Eowyn "I am woman, here me roar!" - where is the white knuckle, heart stopping terror as Eowyn faces her foe on the field of battle? - the prologue in the FOTR was more frightening. Come on!! - let us feel her anger, her pride, her fierceness and her courage in the face of evil! (Perhaps a casting mistake here - I never thought Miranda Otto had the chops for this part.)
WAY too much spider.
Arwen/Aragorn. Where is the angst? Where is the heartbreak? Where are those damned dreamy flashbacks????? If you're going to play that hand in the first two movies, don't crap out in the final one. Aragorn grabbing the newly revealed Arwen at the coronation and planting a big one on her just didn't cut it. I needed a tender private moment of reunion - where her confidence in him and her trust in their future together is answered with his gratitude and passion. <sigh . . . . . >
Aragorn's crown. Sorry, I made a better crown out of tin foil for the school pageant.
No goodbyes for Legolas and Gimli?
The dead Warriors? Pirates of the Caribbean did it better.
Just some random impressions,
Sincerely,
Mrs. Bracegirdle, in a snowy Ottawa, Canada, waiting for the extended DVD version with hope . . .
Well, sadly, this is my least favourite of the films. TOO long, which I wouldn't have minded if the additional minutes were spent on worthwhile storytelling. But they were not.
Overall impression - too much reliance on CG effects to elicit shock and awe. Too much reliance on tear stained hobbit cheeks to elicit sadness and pity. Too much reliance on Gandalf gazing into the horizon and uttering solemn pronouncements to elicit a sense of foreboding. Entire story lines and characters "forgotten". Clumsy interweaving of the final threads of the story lines. (Though one cannot fault PJ et al entirely for this, as I have always felt that Tolkein was all thumbs in this aspect in the final third of ROTK. However, that wouldn't have prevented PJ for "fixing" the problems. I think he was just tired and overwhelmed and gave up. )
Highlights:
Pippin singing a Hobbit dirge as the Gondorian warriors ride to their certain deaths. Glorious and heartrending.
Gollum/Smeagol/Andy - masterful performance/rendering.
Hobbits and their actors. Bravo!
Legolas bringing down the Oliphaunt. How cool was that??
Legolas in his princely elven garb at the coronation - we forget in the first two movies that he IS a prince. It was lovely to be reminded of it.
Minas Tirith - painstakingly evocative.
The lighting of the signal fires - a gorgeous cinematic moment.
BIG (no - HUUUUGE) disappointments:
No Saruman. Need I say more?
Faramir/Eowyn? Where is their story? Where is the House of Healing? Wha???????????
Eowyn "I am woman, here me roar!" - where is the white knuckle, heart stopping terror as Eowyn faces her foe on the field of battle? - the prologue in the FOTR was more frightening. Come on!! - let us feel her anger, her pride, her fierceness and her courage in the face of evil! (Perhaps a casting mistake here - I never thought Miranda Otto had the chops for this part.)
WAY too much spider.
Arwen/Aragorn. Where is the angst? Where is the heartbreak? Where are those damned dreamy flashbacks????? If you're going to play that hand in the first two movies, don't crap out in the final one. Aragorn grabbing the newly revealed Arwen at the coronation and planting a big one on her just didn't cut it. I needed a tender private moment of reunion - where her confidence in him and her trust in their future together is answered with his gratitude and passion. <sigh . . . . . >
Aragorn's crown. Sorry, I made a better crown out of tin foil for the school pageant.
No goodbyes for Legolas and Gimli?
The dead Warriors? Pirates of the Caribbean did it better.
Just some random impressions,
Sincerely,
Mrs. Bracegirdle, in a snowy Ottawa, Canada, waiting for the extended DVD version with hope . . .