Queer Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Director: Peter Jackson
Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Peter Jackson. Based upon the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Cast: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Bernard Hill, John Noble, Miranda Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, Christopher Lee, Bruce Spence, Cate Blanchett, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban,

Note: The following review applies to the Extended Edition, as that is what I watched.

Overview
The Return of the King concludes the Lord of the Rings trilogy in a fashion befitting an epic of epic epicness.

Synopsis
Led by the treacherous Gollum (Andy Serkis), Frodo (Elijah Wood) and his trusty servant Samwise (Sean Astin) continue their quest to destroy the one Ring, which will takes them into Mordor where a giant spider called Shelob will be the least of their worries. Meanwhile, Sauron is launching an attack against Gondor, aided by the fact that the city's steward, Denothor (John Noble), has fallen into madness. Thus the task of defending the city falls to the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the currently exiled king Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen).

The Queering
As I did with the previous reviews, I'll just jump into the subtexts. The idea that the one ring is a metaphor for the development of nuclear weaponry during World War II is once again in effect. Given how the whole quest is about the necessity of destroying the one ring, it would appear that Tolkien was trying to warn against the nuclear arms race that would take place during the Cold War. In fact, the idea of limiting power as a necessity for evil to be defeated is omnipresent in The Return of the King, particularly during the scene were Aragorn releases the Dead Army from his service. The Orwellian claim of "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" can be heard in this scene and whenever the one ring attempts to seduce any of the characters.

As for the queer subtexts, I'll start with Pippin (Billy Boyd) as everybody loves Pippin this time around. Merry is understandably devastated when he is forced to part company with Pippin and there are plenty of other scenes that play into the two being a couple. Denethor treats Pippin like a new boy toy after Pippin swears loyalty to him, going so far as to treat Pippin with greater affection than he does his own son Faramir (David Wenham). Of course, the whole battle for Minas Tirith is launched by Sauron because he is mistakenly led to believe that the little hobbit has the ring.

Of course there is also Eowyn who dresses up as a man so she can fight in the battle of Minas Tirith. In doing so, she is partaking in a long tradition of women dressing as men in order to fight in battle. During the Civil War for example, it is estimated that around 400 woman did exactly that. This allows her one of the greatest scenes in the whole trilogy where she teaches Sauron a lesson as to why sexism is not a good element to include in one's defense strategy.

Then there is the relationship between Samwise and Frodo, which ends up enduring in spite of Gollum's attempts to break up the two. Sam not only ends up going mano to mano with the gargantuan spider named Shelob in order to protect Frodo, but ends up being the primary motivator during the trek across Mordor to Mount Doom as well. The scene where the two hobbits cuddle together while Mount Doom erupts around them emphasizes the depth of their relationship, even while Samwise blathers on about his beloved Rosie.

Recommendation
It would be worth traveling all the way to Mount Doom to see this movie, even if one was not going to be rescued by dues ex machina eagles at the end.

The Rating
**** out of ****

Trailer


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Queer Review: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Director: Peter Jackson
Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair, and Peter Jackson. Based upon the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien
Cast: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Brad Dourif, Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, Miranda Otto, John Rhys-Davies, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Karl Urban, Hugo Weaving, David Wenham,

Note: As with The Fellowship of the Ring this review applies only to the Extended Editions, since that is the version I have available to watch.

Overview
Peter Jackson's epic translation of the Lord of the Rings to the big screen continues in The Two Towers. As bold and invigorating as The Fellowship of the Ring In this second entry into the trilogy, the subtexts both queer and with World War II are expanded upon.

Synopsis
Following the breaking of the fellowship, Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Samwise (Sean Astin) continue their journey to Mordor, but the dangerous dead marshes force them to accept the help of the traitorous Gollum (Andy Serkis). Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) pursue the band of orcs who had kidnapped Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd). Their pursuit takes them to kingdom of Rohan where they join forces with King Théoden (Bernard Hill) to repeal an invasion of orcs sent by Sarumon (Christopher Lee). Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin attempt to convince Treebeard (John Rhys-Davies) and the other Ents to join in the fight against Sarumon and Sauron.

The Queering
Yes, I love the Lord of the Rings films. Yes, I know that there can be read into them all kinds of problematic pro-war and racist subtexts, although I will be neither exploring nor refuting those here. What I want to talk about are the same subtexts both queer and with regards to World War II that I talked about in the previous entry. So before I lose my head talking about how awesome the special effects/cinematography/acting/direction is, I'll just jump right into that.

In The Two Towers, the relationship between Samwise and Frodo is complicated by the inclusion of Gollum, whose help they are forced to accept. This causes Gollum and Sam to now compete for the attention of Frodo, who is finding the ring an increasingly difficult burden to bear.

Frenemies Gimli and Legolas have bonded now. In an early scene, Legolas shows he's willing to kill anyone who merely threatens Gimli. While a threesome is not in the cards for Sam/Frodo/Gollum, there is now one going on between Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn. In one scene Eowyn (Miranda Otto), who inexplicably develops the hots for Aragorn, says of Legolas and Gimli, "They fight beside you because they would not be parted from you! Because they love you."

Also regarding Aragorn, with Boromir out of the picture, the future king is now free to bond with King Théoden. Before and during the Battle of Helms Deep, the two appear to be drawing a certain strength from each other as they inspire each other to face the horrors of Sarumon's army.

Then there are the Ents, who have lost their Entwives, who presumably ran off to form some sort of Lesbian Tree Nymph Commune, leaving the Ents to their own devices. Since the Ents are now practicing some rather harsh gender segregation, one wonders exatly what it means for their love lives.

It also made me wonder what exactly Tolkien thought of the United States, given that the Ents reluctance to join in the war against Sauron/Sarumon reflects that of the United States reluctance to fight against the Axis powers. It is only after Treebeard finds out about Pearl Harbor the destruction of Fangorn Forst, that the Ents end up going into battle.

Another parallel from World War II is the way in which Sarumon draws much of his power from his voice, a reflection of the way Hitler could manipulate others through his words and speech. The way he goes about destroying Fangorn Forest was not only an expression of Tolkien's horror at gross industrialization but also mirrors the ways that the NAZI's turned the entirety of the German population and production resources into a singular war machine.

Recommendation
Recommended more highly then the tallest towers in Middle Earth.

The Rating
**** out of ****

Trailer


Want to find a review of a particular work? Check out the Title Index, the archive of all reviews posted listed alphabetically.