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Story by: Jack Foley
JUST one month after Neo completes his journey in The Matrix
movies, another trilogy will draw to a spectacular close in December
- that of Frodo and co in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of
the King.
The final film in Peter Jackson's adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien
fantasy trilogy will follow hobbits Frodo and Sam as they push
farther into the land of Mordor to destroy the ring of power.
Still travelling with them, in an uneasy alliance, is the deceitful
Gollum, who brings them to the very heart of Mount Doom.
Meanwhile, the warrior Aragorn, revealed to be the lost King
of Gondor, travels to Minis Tirith with an army of undead soldiers
and the remaining members of the fellowship to rescue the ancient
city from Lord Sauron's grasp.
While details remain sketchy over many of the plot details (to
all but avid fans of the novels), Entertainment Weekly provided
quite a mouthwatering insight into what viewers can expect.
'The Return of the King' will showcase yet another creepy CGI
marvel, in the form of Shelob, the globulous she-spider, whom
Sam (Sean Astin) combats.
And there will also be another almighty battle, this time at
Pelennor Fields, which is said to make the climactic Helm's Deep
tussle, at the end of Two Towers, look decidedly 'cute'.
Naturally, given the name of the film, Aragorn will assume his
rightful place as king.
However, anyone expecting an overly happy ending might do well
to take heed of the words of Aragorn himself, aka actor Viggo
Mortensen, who warned that, 'things happen, people die, and there's
a darkness'.
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One of the many talking points of the film also centres around
its running time, with rumours persisting of a four hours and
20 minutes cut, and several cast members hinting at somewhere
in the region of three hours and 30 mins.
What's beyond doubt, however, is that Jackson is likely to want
to finish the series on a high, possibly surpassing the technical
achievements of the first two films and nabbing that long overdue
Oscar in the process - be it as best director, or best film.
As for the cast themselves, most are remaining tight-lipped,
with Mortensen stating that all he knows is 'what's in the book
and what we shot'.
"Judging from these last two movies, nothing Peter does
[in the editing room] will be a surprise to me,'' he added.
Christopher Lee, too, remains candid about what he will reveal,
despite telling The Guardian that he is very excited about the
film.
"I have only seen a few short rushes of the film and I am
still not sure how it ends," he states in a long interview.
"If I did, I still couldn't tell you. I have, however seen
the schedule for Return of the King and it is hectic. The premiere
is in Wellington then it is something like Berlin first, London
the day after and then Copenhagen the day after that."
The horror veteran also remains very angry that the Academy has
continued to snub the film in the top categories, firmly believing
that The Return of the King will be the film which finally hands
Jackson that sought-after statuette.
The film is due to open in the UK on Wednesday, December 17 and,
no doubt, IndieLondon will bring you further updates as that release
date approaches...
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