A step back from Fellowship--flawed, but engaging **MAJOR SPOILERS**

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2002)

*SPOILERS* I've seen it, I've sat on it, I've thought about it, and I'm going to go see it again tonight. For now, here is my verdict:
There are a lot of things I can forgive for the sake of poetic license. Among them:
1. Faramir. My FAVORITE character from the books. Period. At first, I was pissed off. Now, I understand that poetic license had to be taken to make the character and his interaction with the movie for tense. In the end, he resists the ring, and his character was shown having the integrity and strength that Boromir lacked. Not exactly the brilliant foil for his older brother and father that he was in the book, but the tension helped with Galadriel's monologue about the "sons of Gondor taking the ring."
2. The different ending. Or rather, the cut-off point being different from the book. They killed Boromir at the end of FotR anyway, so having also altered the beginning, I can see why they would save Frodo's capture for the beginning of RotK to maintain better story arcs.
3. Aragorn's fall off the cliff. A little pointless, but for purposes of dreaming about Arwen, I guess it works.
4. A three or four page passage taking forty-five minutes in the movie: Okay, for purposes of being climactic, Peter Jackson did a similar exension for the ogre battle in Moria in Fellowship. Sure, it would take longer than the book described, and focusing on this for the film worked.
5. Reduced role for Frodo. After all, they cover the most significant parts. At first, I felt like they did not focus on the ring and that it played second fiddle to the human story, but I realized this was necessary to see HOW powerful the ring and Sauron's influence really was. By focusing on Helm's Deep, we realize the stakes were higher. In FotR, we understood that the ring was dangerous, but all they did was talk about it and search for it. It was buildup for the war. In TTT, we see the battle that the ring is causing in full-throttle. Frodo's reduced part was necessary, and they still got his mission and temptation across. The way he stroked the ring, and his fall into the lake because of its influence were very effective moments. So is his obsession with Gollum (after all, he sees himself, doesn't he?). At first, I'd have liked to have seen more, but now that I have considered it, they portrayed it as much as was necessary. Galadriel's monologue was also necessary to remind us just what was at stake, and that this entire battle was about the ring.
What I cannot forgive:
1. The lack of characterization in Gandalf. Where WAS he?!!?!? If I hadn't been familiar with the original story, I'd have been completely confused as to why he was now "the White." I can understand McKellen's (wise) choice to play the Grey and the White as two seperate characters. But I cannot forgive the emptiness of the role. How was he different? How were his powers different? How was his personality different? These ideas are never explored. He just comes in, has a few lines, and disappears. GANDALF IS LORD OF THE RINGS! Couldn't we have at least seen a little character development.
2. Lack of characterization for Saruman. Again, just a few lines, and he's gone. No sense of forbidding and power that he had in the first film. In fact, they could have used archive footage from the first film for his part (though the "exorcism" from Theodin was well-done). The scene where he watched the Ents destroy Isengard was laughable...he just stood there and looked p***ed off. At the very most, they could have developed the reltionship between he and Grima a little bit better. Which leads me to.....
3. Grima's character going nowhere. If Saruman was POSSESSING Theodin, why was Grima needed at all? He just uttered a few lines, looking imposing in the film's first act, and then disappeared. I understand that Peter Jackson sees the Lord of the Rings as a nine-hour movie and that we'll see more of Grima later, but he could have given us some sort of sense of completion for the purposes of waiting one more year. Though I did like that single tear fall from his eye as he beheld the army (a sly reference to his role in Exorcist III, as the film already referenced The Exorcist anyway).
4. Some lazy storytelling. I enjoyed the Exorcism of Theodin scene, but I had a hard time figuring out if Saruman was in his domain or if he was actually thrown out of Theodin and was with the others in the castle. There are also a number of plot holes. How could Boromir fight in the woods and get shot with arrows quickly, and yet Aragorn and Gimli could fight on the draw bridge fifty times the number of orcs that Boromir was fighting and remain unscathed? I just don't understand this. It's just lazy story telling. Some of the pacing was a bit off, too. WAY too much time was spent with Merry and Pippin with the Ents. I love the Ents as much as the next fellow, but speed us up already. By the time they're in the woods deciding whether or not to join the war, we've having enough exposition and decision making from all the other characters. I for one would have rather seen them cut to the chase.
What I liked:
Fortuntanely, I loved all the rest. The development of Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas was wonderful. We get a better sense of these characters (I especially enjoyed the competition between Legolas and Gimli). Gimli served as the comic relief, but it didn't take away from the character's integrity. Aowen and Theodin were wonderful additions, as was Faramir, even though his change was controversial. Treebeard was inventive, and Gollum was the most convincing CGI character I have ever seen. The battles were epic, and every square inch of the screen is loaded with detail.
Peter Jackson has taken a fantasy story and has filmed it like it was a historical World War II film. The realism and the stakes presented works, and most of this approach blew me away the same way an effective historical war film ("Saving Private Ryan" or "The Longest Day") would. If Fellowship belonged to the Hobbits, Towers is the story of the humans' continuing battle, and they all must make important choices. Does Aragorn stay at Helm's Deep and fall for Aowen? Does Theodin lead his people into an attack? Does Aowen love Aragorn? Does Arwen leave with the elves or stay for Aragorn (she's a elf, but she wants to be human, after all)? Does Faramir do the duty of his position to please his father, or does he do what it right? All of these questions are strongly developed. And the payoffs are wonderful and show the power of the human spirit, much like war films.
I trust Peter Jackson, and I look forward to Return of the King. That said, The Two Towers was overall a step backwards from Fellowship, and I hope that Jackson does not get over confident in his ability. He had to PROVE himself with Fellowship. Lord of the Rings in arguable the greatest fantasy series ever written, and it has harbored millions of fans. There were a lot of expecations from fans. Perhaps too many. He had to prove that he could look past all of the weight of the trilogy's momentum and make a great film out of the books we all love. And he did. He brought us a masterful film which, like The Godfather, made us appreciate the original text even more and also spun the ideas in new directions. This does not give him permission to slack off with the rest of his work. Develop those characters more. Keep the pacing interesting. Don't compromise getting a film done quick and making money over quality. In other words, DON'T PULL A LUCAS!!!!
But I love you, Peter. And I know that Return of the King will be a satisfactory wrap-up to this wonderful series of films that you're making.
Final verdict: Seven out of ten, *** out of ****.
(Fellowship: 9.5 out of 10, **** out of ****)