Thumbs up!

Rating: 9/10 (7 December 2002)

Wow, what can I say ... I am still speechless and awed from such a breathtaking film. Let me start off by saying that I believe Two Towers was a difficult book to adapt because of the break of the fellowship. The jump from Frodo to Sam, to the three hunters and Gandalf, to Merry and Pippin, as well as the introduction to many other characters made the flow of the film very unorthodox. We are so used to seeing film's introduce the plot and characters, show how characters grow, see them run into conflict and see how it all ends ... and so even when I knew that Two Towers could not flow in that manner, it still took me some time getting used to the hopping around. At first, it made me feel quite uncomfortable, but now I have a growing appreciation for Peter Jackson's choice of storytelling. I hope those who watch it can keep that in consideration; though I fear that critics will not keep that in mind when they see the film.
I am most impressed with the Battle at Helm's Deep. It was absolutely stunning, and one of the best battle sequences I have ever seen on film. Everything from the incredible CGI, the amazing choreographed action sequences, the costumes and settings (working under the rain sequence must have been treacherous), to Gimli's innocent comic relief, was so wonderfully done. For every second of the 45 minute scene I was at the edge of my seat, with my hands clenched and my eyes widened, hoping and rooting for the victory of the men and elves, even when I knew how it would end.

Next, I would like to say that Andy Serkis was magnificent. Not only did he capture the movement of Gollum, but he also mastered Gollum's voice and his multi-personality disorder.
In fact, all the actors did a exceptional job. The audience was able to see the characters changing, growing and slowly developing into what they are fated to be in the end. Elijah Wood was especially marvelous.

Overall, Two Towers was remarkable and a wonderful second addition to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Can't wait to see what ROTK is going to be like.