Return of the King:
After the fall of Saruman, The warriors (Gandalf, Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli) recollect Merry and Pippin from Treebeard, and finally see the end of Grima and Saruman (extended version). They discover that Sauron plans to make a move on Gondor, the capital of Man in Middle-Earth. This city is where the King should sit, but in his absence, is being rule by douchebag Denethor (portrayed as noble in the books, portrayed as sinister here), father of Boromir, who treats his younger son Faramir like shit, even telling him he preferred Boromir to the point of telling Faramir he wished he had taken his brother's place in death. The warriors go there to defend the city, and The three main warriors (Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli) travel to an ancient tomb to try to get the King of the Dead to help them. Aragorn is helped by the Elves to learn more about himself, and Merry and Pippin become warriors. Meanwhile, Sam and Frodo are on the brink of reaching Mordor, but Frodo's mind is being more Ring-oriented by the hour, becoming a mirror-image of Smeagol, before he became Gollum. Meanwhile, Gollum, while leading them through Mordor, secretly plots to lead them into the lair of Shelob, a giant, man-eating spider creature who guards the pass into Mordor. Rohan and it's warriors choose to help to defend Gondor, and Frodo and Sam begin to split apart thanks to Gollum;s coniving ways. Will our heroes defend Gondor and make it to Mordor? Or will they fall to the dark and evil forces of Sauron? The cast are excellent, and all the cast of the first two are back, with a couple new faces: like Thomas Robbins as Deagol, Smeagol's cousin in a flashback to his origin, and Lawrence Makoare as The Witch King, Lord of the Nazgul, a threatening and powerful new villain, who is a bad-ass, whom Andy Serkis provides his voice for. Paul Norell also appears as the creepy but overall good King of the Dead. And, if you didn't watch the second movie in extended mode, John Noble makes his first appearance as the sinister and conniving Denethor, who is anything buy noble. This is my favorite film, although the plot is a bit complex. The action is through the roof. We see ghost warriors and elves and dwarves and men fighting orcs and demons and dragons and The Witch King. The special effects are incredible. The castle of Gondor, The Great Eye, Mordor, The Nazgul dragons, the orc armies, Shelob, and Gollum are great technological feats. The battle of Gondor is incredible and lasts a good hour, and the final showdown at Mordor between Gollum, Sam, and Frodo is great. (There is also a great How It Should Have Ended that basically shows how all this trouble could have been avoided.) The scene where Frodo fights off Shelob and then Sam must fight Shelob to save Frodo from being eaten is also very thrilling. Although I feel the wrap-up, at like 45 minutes long, is wayyyyy over-long, Return of the King is an exhilirating, breathtaking, incredible epic adventure film that is a great conclusion to an amazing and truly epic trilogy. 5/5 stars.
The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey:
This highly anticipated film doesn't have quit the amount of star power that the original did, but some characters and actors are set to make appearances. It is, in fact, the first in a htree-part trilogy based on Tolkien's first book, The Hobbit. Young Bilbo Baggins is whisked from the comfort of the Shire to go on an adventure with a pack of dwarves and Gandalf the Grey to take back their kingdom from the evil dragon Smaug, running into various misadventures on the way, including: goblins, a creature known as Gollum, Orc warriors, giant spiders, rock giants, a mysterious ring, a necromancer who may have something to do with Sauron, and an Elven kingdom. The film has a great cast, featuring Sir Ian Mckellen, once again as the lovable, but bad-ass wizard Gandalf. Martin Freeman (from films like Nativity, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and BBC's hit show Sherlock) plays the titular hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, Frodo's uncle, who is a kind, albeit cowardly hobbit, who gains courage and strength from his journey. He is my favorite Bilbo, just above the great Ian Holm. Richard Armtage plays Thorin, the bulky dwarve who has little fiaht in Bilbo, but grows to respect him. He's a bad-ass. the company of dwarves provide great comic relief. Returning cast members include Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Christopher Lee, and Cate Blanchett. Benedict Cumberpatch makes a cameo as The Necromancer, who's role will be expanded on in part two. Sylvester McCoy also appears as radagast the Brown, a somewhat crazy but hilarious wizard of the forests. This film is a lot less intense than the other films, but that benefits it, making it more open to people who are more sensitive. The use of heavy CGI initially bugged me but I grew to like it, not more than the other films, though. The final battle was such a letdown, but I think the sequel will make up for it. The ending stinger is so great, I can't wait until 2013! Although initially pissed that it was a three-parter, I was thankful, because this film alone in almost 3 hours long. We never see Smaug, a smart move by Peter Jackson. Guillermo del Toro also serves as a writer and producer, which I think benefits the film even more. A talent like him is much needed. Some parts, like the Pale Orc, are expanded upon, whereas other bits are cut completely. I was really looking forward to the Spider, and I was a bit disappointed that it didn't appear. I thought the Gollum sequence was funny but also intense, a good balance. The music is really good, as always, and I thought it was cool how they only used the origianl score when the One Ring would appear. Gandalf also gives this great look when he sees Bilbo stuff something into his pocket. The action sequences are fun, but not quite as epic as the original trilogy. I really enjoyed this film, to the point, where, like Skyfall and The Dark Knight Rises, I'd see it again in IMAX. This is a must-see, and is a great film to go see for the holidays. Can't wait for the second and third parts!! 5/5 stars.
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