A fitting finale to a stirring saga

Holiday moviegoers powered the North American box office with one of the biggest weekends in history as four new releases entered the top 10 while returning champ The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King remained the no. 1 draw at the multiplexes during the post-Christmas period.

Still ruling the box office with the greatest of ease was New Line’s megahit The Return of the King which grossed $50.6M over the Friday-to-Sunday period, according to final studio figures. Off 30 percent from last weekend, the Peter Jackson epic has amassed a staggering $222.3M in only 12 days and crossed the double-century mark on its 11th day of release. Only Spider-Man has broken the $200M barrier, accomplishing the feat in nine days in May 2002.

Pulling in ticket buyers in 3,703 theaters, King averaged $13,664 per site, but suffered a stronger decline than The Two Towers. The middle saga in the Middle-Earth trilogy slipped 21 percent in its sophomore frame to $48.9M with a $13,494 average and a 12-day earning of $200.1M. After the first five days of release, King was running 22 percent ahead of Towers, but now after a dozen days, the lead has been cut in half to 11 percent.

Overseas, The Return of the King has watched its total gross skyrocket to an estimated $268.4M from 38 territories putting the worldwide haul after 12 days at an eye-popping $492M. In less than two weeks, the concluding installment of the J.R.R. Tolkien series has become the certified box-office champion of the world.

"Such a little thing," Boromir said as he held the Ring in his hands, but he was wrong. Wrong about it, and wrong about the trio of films which tell its tale. Wrong about the creative minds that moved heaven and earth to bring them to us. Wrong about the final results surrounding him on the screen. This is not a little thing. This is not another throwaway event picture. This is not Batman, this is not Jurassic Park, this is not Titanic.

This is something rare and wondrous, something that may never appear again. I’ve seen the Angels win the World Series. I’ve seen the wedding of my only sibling. And now I’ve seen The Return of the King. I think I can die with no regrets.

The conclusion to Peter Jackson’s towering adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic contains few surprises. We’ve already seen what his team has produced in the first two entries, and the third leg is everything we could expect or hope for. With the groundwork laid by Fellowship and The Two Towers, The Return of the King sits back and reaps the benefits, delivering an awe-inspiring climax to the saga of Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and his quest to destroy the Ring of Power.

Jackson pulls out all the stops here, both in terms of visual spectacle and in the characters that give it so much weight. The former is amazing, even in light of what’s come before: cavernous tombs populated by an army of ghosts: the city of Minas Tirith, last hope for an embattled humanity; the legions of Sauron, who lay siege to the city in one of the greatest battle sequences ever conceived; and a giant spider guaranteed to rattle even the most jaded horror fan. The Return of the King unveils these treasures with exquisite pacing, allowing us to retain our sense of wonder without numbing us to the sights on screen. Jackson and his effects team at WETA have outdone themselves, and in a year filled with eye candy, no other movie can hope to match the visions on display here.

As with the first two films, however, the effects always come second to the underlying story. The Return of the King seeks to tie in all the remaining threads, providing a closure that matches the power and drama that have come before it.

Once again, the action is divided between Frodo – struggling through the last terrible stretch of his journey to Mount Doom – and the remainder of the fellowship, who reunite around Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) in defense of Middle-Earth’s free kingdoms. Mortensen’s "ranger from the North" has long resisted his royal birthright, and now, as he finally acknowledges that responsibility, the shadows threaten to consume it all. Sauron has unleashed his minions en masse, hoping to overwhelm the forces of light before Aragorn can rally them to his side.

Jackson uses that central frame to address the various lingering character arcs, such as Eowyn’s (Miranda Otto) embrace of her Girl Power destiny or the fact that Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) are still keeping score. Aided by fine turns from the cast, Jackson never misses a beat, balancing each element until its invariably satisfying conclusion. Only filmmaking this sharp could make so many figures so emotionally involving without losing track of one.

But though they occupy plenty of screen time, theirs is the auxiliary part of this story. The lion’s share belongs to Frodo, for whom they are all fighting and whose resistance to the Ring’s pull is finally beginning to buckle. His companions mirror the twin halves of his fragmenting self – faithful servant Sam (Sean Astin), hiding an indomitable will beneath eternal optimism, and the wretched Gollum (Andy Serkis), slave of the Ring whose guidance towards mount Doom is laced with treachery.

Wood gives a heartbreaking effort as a well-meaning spirit pushed to the brink of despair, but it’s Astin and Serkis who truly shine.

Sam, normally relegated to Man Friday duties, must now take up the slack for his faltering master, and Astin complements his always-sympathetic performance with some deep reservoirs of heroism. Serkis has long been a talking point for these films, but his CGI-rendered Gollum remains no less irresistible here as the better angels of his nature give way to blackest villainy.

Yet we never lose sight of the tragedy at Gollum’s core. The film’s opening features an effects-free Serkis charting his character’s slow descent into monstrosity, and he retains our pity even as he plots a horrifying end for Frodo and Sam. Together, the two actors adroitly personify the battle for Frodo’s soul, punctuated by fierce verbal confrontations that give voice to The Return of the King’s most important dramatic conceits. The fiery conclusion to their struggle (perfectly realized from Tolkien’s text) stands as one of the great moments in modern storytelling.

The Return of the King is every inch the finale this saga deserves, cementing its place as one of the seminal cinematic achievements of our time. To Jackson, Fran Walsh, Barrie Osborne, and the thousands of artists and craftsman who gave their talents to this project, the only thing left to say is thank you. Thank you so, so much.