Almost as great

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2003)

The Fellowship of the Ring (FOTR) was a great film. Far superior to those dull films about a galaxy far away. Expectations were high for the second film in the trilogy and The Two Towers (TTT) almost made it. Perhaps the battle at Helm's Deep went on a touch too long and uncanonical scenes like Aragorn being lost were unneccessary but these are only minor flaws in an engrossing three hours. There was much to praise.
Part of the success of TTT depends upon the Gollum as he is now a key character in the story and as other people have said, you forget that the character is a CGI. It is extraordinary. The interplay between Gollum and Frodo and Sam is brilliant, not just physically but emotionally. If Gollum had been another JarJar Binks it would have been disastrous but he is a real character, at war with himself.
The acting varies from mock-epic to perfect. Elijah Wood makes Frodo's pain so tangible that you feel every difficult step in his journey. Sean Astin's speech near the end about finding good in the world made my eyes moist. Viggo Mortensen is better in TTT than FOTR. Liv Tyler looks the part. Bernard Hill is Theoden come to life. And Miranda Otto is my kind of shield maiden.
The production values are wonderful as ever and if it is eye candy it is of the superior kind. Well done Peter Jackson and team. My only real complaint is that we have to wait another dratted year for the third part.