willturland

I was always worried that the Return of the King would be a let down somehow. I don't really know why. Perhaps it was because I enjoyed the book so much that I couldn't see how any cinematic conclusion could ever compare to it. Perhaps it was because The Fellowship and The Two Towers were such exceptional films I couldn't beleive that Peter Jackson could keep it up for the third one. Or perhaps I'm just a pesamist. Thankfully, my worries were totally unfounded and the Return of the King turned out to be, for me at least, one of the most amazing cinematic experiences of my life. There wasn't a moment out of place. Everything worked, everything was as I hoped it would be. From the overwelming and unparelleled battle scenes to the smallest, intimate character moments every second of the film was an absolute wonder to behold. There were a couple of things that bothered me. Denethor was an odd character and he didn't have enough screen time to establish him well enough for us to care about what he was doing. He just came accross as mad, and in the book there seemed to be more to him than that. And Frodo is still a little too whiny. And yet, I can't rememeber the last time I came out of the cinema with such a feeling of total satisfaction. The climax of the film worked better than I could have hoped for. I can't wait to go see it again.

I saw this film as part of a Hong Kong double bill at a local arthouse cinema and surprisingly it went down pretty well. It has an endearing quality that shines through the confusing, `make it up as we go along plot', bizarrely staged action sequences and unintentionally surreal comedy. In Kung Fu comedy star Sammo Hung's second directorial effort we see him go through a series of barely connected adventures as a fat Bruce Lee fanatic working at his uncle's Hong Kong restaurant. Seemingly meant to be some kind of parody / homage to Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, it bares little or no relation to the aforementioned film, with the exception of a fight scene involving a western boxer, a black guy and er .. some other guy. Rather than using a black actor, the film makers decided to black up a Chinese actor for the part. It's hilarious to watch the actor approximating how he thinks a black man might act, as he minces around in some kind of attempted jive swagger! Sammo does quite a good job of imitating Bruce Lee's mannerisms and although this is primarily a comedy, some of the fight sequences are great. It is easy to forget that Sammo is quite an accomplished martial artist when he spends most of his screen time as a big fat bumbling idiot!

Overall, there's a great sense of fun running through the film that makes it difficult to dislike, even though it's terrible. If you enjoyed this, check out Sammo Hung in The magnificent Butcher or My Lucky Stars, which are just as ridiculous ridiculous but with more fighting!