Different from "The Fellowship," yet dazzling and wonderful in its own way --

Rating: Null/10 (26 December 2002)

"The Two Towers" the second installment of Tolkein's trilogy THE LORD OF THE RINGS, is different from the first, lacking, necessarily, the wonder of new characters and wondrous new settings, darker and more intense, yet, for the most part, equally enthralling and leaving the viewer ready for the last three hours and knowing that three hours will not be enough.
The first part of the film does seem to drag a bit and the introduction of new characters may be difficult for non-readers of the books to identify. In addition, I found the switch-back editing between the Ent council and the battle for Helms Deep to be distracting. The Ent council is portrayed as a little "too cute" and detracts from the intensity of the Helms Deep sequence -- but only slightly. The Helms Deep sequence more than makes up for the cuteness of the Ent cut-aways and is, indeed, "Biblical" in proportion -- although I did miss the drama of close-up one-on-one battle scenes found in "The Fellowship" (ie., the death of Boramir and the battle between Aragorn and Boramir's executioner). Tokien purists may be disturbed by the departure from the text, but, cinematically and dramatically, most of them work. Being female and an occasional romantic, I appreciate the increased (although only slight) role of the women characters; the romance is suggested in the book and its appendices. I do think the character of Boramir's brother was better portrayed in the book, but everything cannot remain, even in a nine-hour film. And, of course, the character of Gollum is incredibly done, as most critics have agreed. Jackson, et. al., may not have remained absolutely true to the text, but the spirit and essence are definitely on the screen and the loving manner in which the film makers took great pains to provide richness in every detail -- etchings on the weaponry, architecture true to the various races and species, costumes painstakingly produced -- all point to a work that will endure just as Tolkien's trilogy has endured.