> Liv Tyler
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, John Noble, Bernard Hill, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, David Wenham, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Paul Norell, Lawrence Makoare, Sarah McLeod
Expectations: High. I love this.
Can I give this one five stars? It took 10 years and more than a few re-watches, but I have finally come around on this one. Don't get me wrong, I always loved the film, but I also always thought it was the weakest of the trilogy. This time I was struck by how powerful a film Return of the King is, and how well it brings everything set forth in the previous films together. But what this recent change of heart proves to me is that there is no truly standout film from the others. They are all interdependent and equal in their greatness, and I will most likely shift allegiances between the three throughout my lifetime.
Opening with Gollum's backstory provides us with a glimpse of how he became the creature we're familiar with, and it also allows the film to open in the quiet green of the Hobbit lands. The Two Towers ends with a lengthy battle sequence at night, finishing a film that contains trial after trial for our fellowship. So to begin the next film in a peaceful, happy place (if only for a few moments) is surprising and brilliant. It reminds us a bit of what the hobbits are fighting for, and shows us the depths of despair, all within that first scene. It also skillfully leads us right back into the thick of things where we can finally reckon with the one ring and finish the journey once and for all.
September 16, 2013 - 5:20 Will 2000s, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Movie Reviews, Rating: 4 Stars, War, Will's Reviews
2003, Andy Serkis, Bernard Hill, Billy Boyd, Cate Blanchett, David Wenham, Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, John Noble, John Rhys-Davies, Karl Urban, Lawrence Makoare, Liv Tyler, Lord of the Rings, Miranda Otto, Orlando Bloom, Paul Norell, Peter Jackson, Sarah McLeod, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen
Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Bernard Hill, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, Brad Dourif, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, David Wenham, Christopher Lee, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Craig Parker
While Fellowship of the Ring is an excellent opening to the trilogy, The Two Towers has my vote for the best of the bunch. It's fun to see the Fellowship come together and venture through snowy mountains and deep, dark mines, but once they split and begin their own adventures, the real journey begins. The hopefulness of newfound friends was only a respite from the coming storm of war and villainy, and here in The Two Towers Peter Jackson fully unleashes that force upon viewers. As clichéd as it sounds, this makes The Two Towers the "dark middle" of the trilogy, but eh, what's a good trilogy if it doesn't have a dark middle chapter? We have to despair before we can triumph.
I lamented a bit in my review of Fellowship of the Ring that no one had continued the charge with the fantasy film genre, but honestly, after re-watching The Two Towers, I think it's because no one is confident enough to try to top what Jackson accomplished here. Similar to how I think Jackson is reluctant to return to the splatter genre after Dead Alive — it's better to drop the mic and walk away than to continue pureeing the dead horse with the lawnmower (so to speak). Imagine you're a director trying to mount a fantasy epic. Jackson was going up against years of fairly lackluster high fantasy filmmaking, but anyone trying now is going up directly against Jackson. Hell, even uber fanboy Guillermo del Toro couldn't get The Hobbit going, the studios only resolved their legal issues with the rights when Jackson relented and agreed to make the films.
September 9, 2013 - 5:20 Will 2000s, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Movie Reviews, Rating: 4 Stars, War, Will's Reviews
2002, Andy Serkis, Bernard Hill, Billy Boyd, Brad Dourif, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Craig Parker, David Wenham, Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Davies, Karl Urban, Liv Tyler, Lord of the Rings, Miranda Otto, Orlando Bloom, Peter Jackson, Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Viggo Mortensen
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Starring Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis
The Lord of the Rings films are the high-water mark for modern fantasy filmmaking. Even now, 12 years on from its initial release, nothing has come close to capturing a world filled with elves, dwarves and magic quite like Peter Jackson did with his adaptation of the beloved J.R.R. Tolkien work. When I first saw this film back in 2001, I remember thinking that Jackson had opened the floodgates for the studios to green-light tons of thrilling high fantasy screen adventures, similar to how X-Men and Sam Raimi's Spider-Man were the jumping off point for the modern explosion of superhero films around the same time.
But someone must have stood at those open gates and yelled, "You shall not pass!" because it never happened. The teen fantasy genre definitely caught fire, but that's probably more a result of Harry Potter than anything Lord of the Rings did. My only real guess as to why this cinema revolution never happened is that from a production standpoint, the enterprise of producing Lord of the Rings was insane. Green-lighting a genre director with no mainstream hits to adapt one of the most well-known books of all-time, filming an entire trilogy simultaneously with no guarantee that they'll make even a shred of their budget back at the box office? Those aren't the kinds of risks that studios like to play with, thus keeping the high fantasy film revolution at bay.
2001, Andy Serkis, Billy Boyd, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm, Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Davies, Liv Tyler, Lord of the Rings, Orlando Bloom, Peter Jackson, Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Viggo Mortensen
Super (2011)
Starring Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon, Gregg Henry, Michael Rooker, Andre Royo, Sean Gunn, Stephen Blackehart, Greg Ingram, Linda Cardellini, Nathan Fillion, James Gunn
Directed by James Gunn
Expectations: High. I loved Slither, Gunn's previous film.
Super is a superhero movie for the indie crowd with a lust for bold violence. It's a small group, but man are they going to eat this shit up. For everyone else, I'm not sure exactly how they'll react to it, should they see it. There were a couple of thirty-somethings that brought their elderly mother to the screening and I can only imagine the interesting conversations they had on their ride home. For all I know though, she brought them and secretly wishes to bash motherfuckers that cut in line with a wrench. You never can tell with these quiet types.
April 7, 2011 - 6:00 Will 2010s, Comedy, Movie Reviews, Rating: 3 Stars, Will's Reviews
2011, Andre Royo, Ellen Page, Greg Ingram, Gregg Henry, James Gunn, Kevin Bacon, Linda Cardellini, Liv Tyler, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, Rainn Wilson, Sean Gunn, Stephen Blackehart