The Return Of The King again in terms of technical achievement once again cannot be faltered. This film perhaps has the most notable flaw in John Noble's hammy performance as the simplified Denethor. There is no reason Denethor needed to be simplified to just being an aggressive obnoxious and one dimensional villain. There was a great story for that character of a man being destroyed by sorrow, but the film and Noble do not capture it unfortunately. It's just such a shame since if he had been given the proper justice I think Denethor could have been a highlight of the series. The other qualm, less severe, are the ghosts. They are actually quite effectively realized, particularly in their introduction, but they are made too much to be a deus ex machina. Getting that all out of the way this is an outstanding film which more than makes up for the aforementioned weakness with how amazing the highpoints of the film are. The other two films built to each character arc and this film does not waste a single one. The power of so many moments is incredible as the film makes use of what came before in such a tremendous fashion. These scenes are truly awe inspiring whether they are the bigger moments, such as Théoden rallying of the troops for one last charge, the moment where Aragorn kneels to the hobbits, or of course any scene where Sam steps up to be the true hero. The film has so many beautiful and thrilling moments throughout, such as when Gandalf comforts Pippin during a battle, or perhaps Aragorn simple battle cry "for Frodo". It's astonishing spectacle, but never loses the human element, even without humans, making itself the crowning achievement to the greatest film trilogy of all time.
5/5
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