Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

This is the kind of movie that you don't know where to start with.

How can a person even begin to describe all the facets of a movie that has been anticipated for a year and totally lives up to expectations? It's hard to get more than a "wow" out of your mouth after you stumble out of the theater. But The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the kind of movie that, an hour later, you simply can't stop talking about.

The Two Towers is the second installment of the three-part story based on Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, following up last year's "hit" The Fellowship of the Ring. It's not a trilogy, mind you, but rather one complete story that's too big to tell all at once. And the director, Peter Jackson, has put forth his most valiant effort in telling it. (Beware, this review will contain spoilers, so if you want to go into the movie knowing nothing about it and you haven't already been spoiled, you might want to turn back.)

If you missed Fellowship (and how could you??), they aren't about to cut you any slack here. This movie opens with NO recap of any kind, no tidy little scrolling to catch you up with went before. However, the opening scene (which I will not spoil for you) as well as several other scenes do flash back and flesh out the story more, making it a *little* bit of a catch-up for people who have seen Fellowship. We are then immediately thrown into the story: the eight surviving members of the Fellowship are scattered, traveling their separate paths to what looks like the same dark end.

Frodo and Sam are on their way to Mordor to destroy the One Ring. Hunted by the Eye of Sauron and burdened by the increasing weight of the Ring, Frodo decides to take Gollum as their guide into Mordor, though this slimy creature has been treacherous in the past. Frodo's cousins Merry and Pippin meanwhile have been captured by Uruk-Hai, the wizard Saruman's breed of orcs, and the three remaining Fellowship companions, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, are tracking them. Their quest leads them into Rohan, a kingdom beset by Saruman on nearly every front, as their borders are attacked and their king is slowly poisoned. The forces of evil begin to close in all around them, and those who fight against the dominion of fear find themselves facing their darkest moment yet.

Peter Jackson claimed that this would be a much darker, more intense movie than the first one, and it absolutely lived up to that, but there was also wonderful moments of hope and humor. It was an excellent mixture of very thrilling, edge-of-your-seat battles and action, and respites of, if not exactly lightness, at least a little peace and chance to catch your breath. However, Jackson never loses the tension or stakes of the story, which was an important goal for him in this movie. I believe that The Two Towers completely lives up to and maybe even surpasses its predecessor, depending on your viewpoint.

I was in awe for pretty much all of the movie, blown away by layer after layer of stunning attention to detail. Little things themselves, but added together they make a movie very obviously created with great care. The intuitive direction of pacing and mood, The Two Towers has a grittier, less of a fantasy feel than Fellowship, yet it doesn't lessen at all the incredible heroicness and magnificence of the epic. The movie is filled with moments that inspire awe and offer hope for our own world; if Middle-Earth could face odds like this and come out alive, can't we do the same? Lord of the Rings, both the books and the film, is a story that will have relevancy and meaning for any age and time.

This is simply a movie that I loved to watch unfold. Hours flew by like minutes thanks to Jackson's superb cutting, pacing, and interweaving of the various storylines. He avoids the defined, episodic handling of the parallel action that Star Wars employs (thank you great fates above!). I was extremely impressed with the way scenes transitioned by way of a common setting, action, or a lead-in, so that the story simply flowed with almost no breaks. At points in the movie you could see spots where they've trimmed the story in order to get the movie under three hours (but *just* under at 2:59); but small details such as these will be fixed by the Extended Edition in November.


"I think now we begin to understand one another..."

All the performances of the actors (except for one sad exception) were strengthened and intensified since the first movie. Fellowship was definitely Frodo's movie, but Two Towers is pretty clearly Aragorn's movie. We can see the story setting up for Return of the King as Aragorn takes on new roles and begins to accept his destiny in the middle of the world's end. Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) portrayed this character fantastically; he truly became the hero and took on the struggles and triumphs of this man. Gandalf (yes he does come back!), played by Ian McKellen, and who was a key player in Fellowship, took more of a supporting role here but a crucial one in turning the tide. Legolas (Orlando Bloom, the heart-breaking hottie) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) really came into their own this time around, with Gimli providing well-timed humor.

Each new cast member is wonderful as well – David Wenham as Faramir (despite the changes made to his character); King Theoden (Bernard Hill) and his nephew Eomer (Karl Urban); Theoden's creepy advisor Wormtongue (Brad Dourif); and especially Theoden's niece Eowyn (Miranda Otto), a brave and spirited princess who falls for Aragorn. It's only Frodo who doesn't really expand in this movie, except to get more tortured and crazy. I was very sad to see that Elijah Wood wasn't given more of a chance to show his range here, since Sam (Sean Astin) and Gollum (Andy Serkis) shone in their scenes.

It's almost superfluous for me to talk about how amazing Gollum was, since every other reviewer on the planet has already explored every possible detail about Gollum, but I got to thinking of him as a real cast member who was just as real as any of them, rather than a mere CGI character. If you want a freaky occupation during the movie, just try tracing hobbit features in Gollum. The almost-flesh-colored skin, the mossy "hair" on his big feet, the large rounded eyes – man, he was perfect! Andy Serkis, who supplied all but the actual effects for Gollum, brought out the pitifulness and hope of redemption in this character that is rarely shown in other productions; even if the squeakier voice isn't what you imagined for Gollum, you can't help but be impressed with the depth of the character. (Watch for a terrific interplay between his good and bad side.)

I loved the way relationships were explored and deepened in The Two Towers – even in the midst of all the chaos Jackson gives us lovely glimpses of interactions that further the characterization. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli bond as they track Merry and Pippin, and then through Helm's Deep they form a very strong friendship, so much more than you saw in the Fellowship. Finally Legolas and Gimli connect like they do in the book! I also thought that the little interplay banter between Aragorn, Gimli, and Eowyn was a beautiful touch. As sort of a grim contrast to these threesomes, the Mordor companions also form a tenuous and edgy relationship. Sam, of course, is extremely suspicious of Gollum, who returns the sentiment, while Frodo tries to mediate, win Gollum back to the good, and still cope with the effects of the ring. Anyone who says this series has no character development just lost their last leg to stand on!

After Fellowship, could you imagine a Lord of the Rings movie that does not have eye-popping special effects? Two Towers has the incredible technical capabilities of the first movie while retaining the wonderful quality of letting the story and characters predominate, *not* the special effects. The New Zealand scenery, on the other hand, occasionally threatens to take over top billing as the star of the movie. It is no-holds-barred gorgeous! Jackson's direction and cinematography enhance the beautiful surroundings with the professionalism and epic feel that the movie deserves. One minor nitpick I had was that at times he gets carried away with the slow-mo, swirly effects of the otherworldly scenes, and at one point it started to intrude on the story for me. There were only a few instances where it was over-the-top, though; in other places he uses the deliberately slowed photography to tremendous effect.

And the music! Simply the thought of Howard Shore's awesome score leaves me breathless. If you thought that nothing could top Fellowship's soundtrack, wait until you hear what Shore has composed for this movie! He replaces the perky hobbit theme and Fellowship theme with monumental motifs like the too-beautiful-for-words Rohan theme, or the crashing accompaniment to the storming of Isengard. I thought that the weird, discordant "Gollum's Theme" on the soundtrack would stick out jarringly in the movie, but they wove it in at the end quite subtly and the mood was appropriate, so I can give the entire score a resounding recommendation.

You should be aware The Two Towers pushes the limits on the PG-13 rating even more than Fellowship did. There is a very freaky sequence during the Dead Marshes where Frodo falls into the water, and the new kind of orcs that are introduced in this movie are quite creepy themselves. There are several brief decapitations, some blood in various places, and an orc head is clearly shown on a spike (yuck). However, there is almost nothing else besides violence and frightening scenes – no sex, profanity, drug/alcohol use, or even much gore. It's an astonishingly clean movie, since much of the violence is shown in fast-paced sequences that don't let you really see what's going on. Anyone from at least twelve or thirteen on will be able to handle it, and it would be such a shame to deprive mature children or younger teens from experiencing this incredible film.


Bottom Line

This is the definitive movie of 2002. If you haven't seen Fellowship of the Ring, go rent it and then catch The Two Towers in theaters. You can't afford not to see it. Despite the cries of the nay-sayers, Lord of the Rings will become a classic film, not just in fantasy but among all classes of movies. "These are the stories that stay with you, that mean something..."