Jan. 3rd, 2005
ROTK:EE musings.
Jan. 3rd, 2005 01:30 pmLet's see if I can re-create this post.
I'll say it straight off: I'm much fonder of the first two films in this trilogy than I am of the third. Don't get me wrong; it's still an incredible movie, but it doesn't have the same grip on me that FOTR and--even more--TTT do. ROTK contains some fantastic sequences--the introduction to Minas Tirith, Faramir's ride from and back to Osgiliath, the Mûmakil, to name a few--and yet as a whole it doesn't seem to hang together as well as it might; its good scenes feel often undercut by an unfortunately high number of weaker ones.
If I had to point to one major culprit, it would be the pacing; more specificially, the profusion of slo-mo shots. Used properly, no other visual device gets me teary-eyed faster; over-used, it makes me fidget and glance at my watch. Slo-mo during the battle at the Black Gate and the destruction of the Ring went straight into my chest--but the remainder of the film is practically nothing but slo-mo from there on out. I can see why; every event in the wrap-up is a momentous one, but when one has so many momentous scenes clumped together they can't all be shown using the same device. So it builds to a rather absurd cumulative level of slo-mo, and rather than enhancing what's happening on-screen it quickly proves instead a distraction that increases with every passing minute. The upshot? The deep emotion in most of the wrap-up feels very forced. Had they let the action play more naturally, with judicious--and sparing--use of slo-mo employed throughout, no doubt I would have been able to buy right into the drama.
It would also have left more room for some of the deleted scenes. That's the second half of my gripe.
( Read more... )
I'll say it straight off: I'm much fonder of the first two films in this trilogy than I am of the third. Don't get me wrong; it's still an incredible movie, but it doesn't have the same grip on me that FOTR and--even more--TTT do. ROTK contains some fantastic sequences--the introduction to Minas Tirith, Faramir's ride from and back to Osgiliath, the Mûmakil, to name a few--and yet as a whole it doesn't seem to hang together as well as it might; its good scenes feel often undercut by an unfortunately high number of weaker ones.
If I had to point to one major culprit, it would be the pacing; more specificially, the profusion of slo-mo shots. Used properly, no other visual device gets me teary-eyed faster; over-used, it makes me fidget and glance at my watch. Slo-mo during the battle at the Black Gate and the destruction of the Ring went straight into my chest--but the remainder of the film is practically nothing but slo-mo from there on out. I can see why; every event in the wrap-up is a momentous one, but when one has so many momentous scenes clumped together they can't all be shown using the same device. So it builds to a rather absurd cumulative level of slo-mo, and rather than enhancing what's happening on-screen it quickly proves instead a distraction that increases with every passing minute. The upshot? The deep emotion in most of the wrap-up feels very forced. Had they let the action play more naturally, with judicious--and sparing--use of slo-mo employed throughout, no doubt I would have been able to buy right into the drama.
It would also have left more room for some of the deleted scenes. That's the second half of my gripe.
ROTK:EE musings.
Jan. 3rd, 2005 01:30 pmLet's see if I can re-create this post.
I'll say it straight off: I'm much fonder of the first two films in this trilogy than I am of the third. Don't get me wrong; it's still an incredible movie, but it doesn't have the same grip on me that FOTR and--even more--TTT do. ROTK contains some fantastic sequences--the introduction to Minas Tirith, Faramir's ride from and back to Osgiliath, the Mûmakil, to name a few--and yet as a whole it doesn't seem to hang together as well as it might; its good scenes feel often undercut by an unfortunately high number of weaker ones.
If I had to point to one major culprit, it would be the pacing; more specificially, the profusion of slo-mo shots. Used properly, no other visual device gets me teary-eyed faster; over-used, it makes me fidget and glance at my watch. Slo-mo during the battle at the Black Gate and the destruction of the Ring went straight into my chest--but the remainder of the film is practically nothing but slo-mo from there on out. I can see why; every event in the wrap-up is a momentous one, but when one has so many momentous scenes clumped together they can't all be shown using the same device. So it builds to a rather absurd cumulative level of slo-mo, and rather than enhancing what's happening on-screen it quickly proves instead a distraction that increases with every passing minute. The upshot? The deep emotion in most of the wrap-up feels very forced. Had they let the action play more naturally, with judicious--and sparing--use of slo-mo employed throughout, no doubt I would have been able to buy right into the drama.
It would also have left more room for some of the deleted scenes. That's the second half of my gripe.
( Read more... )
I'll say it straight off: I'm much fonder of the first two films in this trilogy than I am of the third. Don't get me wrong; it's still an incredible movie, but it doesn't have the same grip on me that FOTR and--even more--TTT do. ROTK contains some fantastic sequences--the introduction to Minas Tirith, Faramir's ride from and back to Osgiliath, the Mûmakil, to name a few--and yet as a whole it doesn't seem to hang together as well as it might; its good scenes feel often undercut by an unfortunately high number of weaker ones.
If I had to point to one major culprit, it would be the pacing; more specificially, the profusion of slo-mo shots. Used properly, no other visual device gets me teary-eyed faster; over-used, it makes me fidget and glance at my watch. Slo-mo during the battle at the Black Gate and the destruction of the Ring went straight into my chest--but the remainder of the film is practically nothing but slo-mo from there on out. I can see why; every event in the wrap-up is a momentous one, but when one has so many momentous scenes clumped together they can't all be shown using the same device. So it builds to a rather absurd cumulative level of slo-mo, and rather than enhancing what's happening on-screen it quickly proves instead a distraction that increases with every passing minute. The upshot? The deep emotion in most of the wrap-up feels very forced. Had they let the action play more naturally, with judicious--and sparing--use of slo-mo employed throughout, no doubt I would have been able to buy right into the drama.
It would also have left more room for some of the deleted scenes. That's the second half of my gripe.