By the third movie in Peter Jackson’s stunning, award-winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, it feels like the right time for the long-awaited King of Gondor to return … and that’s exactly what he does, although a whole lot of stuff precedes the moment teased by the final film’s title. In the aftermath of “Fellowship of the King” and “The Two Towers,” “The Return of the King” sees that eventual king Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and other fellowship members Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) reunite with two of the fellowship’s four hobbits, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) ahead of an enormous battle that will overtake Middle-Earth. Elsewhere, Sam (Sean Astin), loyal companion to the designated ringbearer Frodo (Elijah Wood), grows suspicious of Gollum (Andy Serkis), a former Hobbit corrupted by the Ring’s power who promises to lead them into Mount Doom and destroy Sauron’s evil jewelry once and for all.
“Return of the King” is nothing if not packed with huge action setpieces and thrilling moments from beginning to end, especially as Aragorn and his gang prepare for war against Sauron’s forces and Sam, Frodo, and Gollum inch closer to Mordor and Mount Doom. After Frodo (reluctantly) destroys the ring, losing a finger and killing Gollum in the process, all the heroes return to the capital city of Minas Tirith to welcome, well, the return of the king as Aragorn takes the throne he was born to inherit. Between Aragorn’s reunion with his elven love Arwen (Liv Tyler) and the moment where he tells the heroic hobbits that they “bow to no one” and takes a knee himself, you’ll be hard-pressed not to cry, even though you knew the king would return at the end.
