Last night against better judgement I went to the midnight screening of the Return of the King, and I was far from disappointed. The movie was brilliantly cast, wonderful executed, and had some fantastic editing. I loved the scene when Faramir rides out against all sound judgement set against his father eating in the empty hall save Pippin, while the whole scene is set against Pippin’s melancholy song. In fact, the whole movie was both melancholy and yet filled with hope. Even after victory is secured, the tone continues in its mournful tone. The victors, in truth, seem tired. While many reviews loved the spider scene, or the lighting of the beacons, my favorite scene comes at Aragorn’s coronation, where he and everyone kneels to the hobbits. It starts off intimately, with closeups of Aragorn and the hobbits, then moves outward toward the others, then upward and away.
The narrative thread was strong though lean, and I look forward to the extended edition on DVD for those holes to be filled in. While I understand that the scouring of the shire was left out completely, I do hope some additional details are given to other portions of the story. In any event, though, I look forward to watching it again (and again), even before it is released on DVD.