Serkis shines in Jackson's stunningly dramatic war sequel

Rating: 9/10 (22 June 2009)

Frodo (Wood) and Sam (Astin) continue their quest for Mordor with the creature Gollum (Serkis) for company whilst the rest of the Fellowship fight Sauron's army.
The sequel to the worldwide phenomenon The Fellowship of the Ring brought a record topping audience into theatres to see the continuation of J.R.R Tolkien's trilogy, and this second instalment is equally terrific as its predecessor with Peter Jackson maintaining a sweeping styled directional approach and a stunning conceptual plot.
Jackson astounded many with his first release, being appreciative of the story whilst containing some of the fiercest fantasy sequences to grace our screens since George Lucas' Star Wars, and here he arguably beats his previous release.
The Two Towers brings out the first major battle of the series with the Battle of Helm's Deep that reinvents the concept of war and the power the New Zealander has. Zack Snyder's strongly choreographed battle sequences in 300 brought an altogether new concept to CGI battle sequences which, brilliant as they were, didn't have that vigour of Jackson's conceptual approach. For example, these battles encoded are strongly realistic, for seeing everything as it should be. Though there is heavy amount of computer input, there are by far greater approaches and efforts to make this appear as if we are right there in battle.
There is so much happening from heavy marching and formations to strong battering boulders, entwined with heavy character drama and political concepts that balance this 2002 smash into consistent realism.
The beginning is wildly a strong part of Jackson's game. The Fellowship opened us up sweetly with explaining a sombre and mystical legend with the third film opening with Gollum's arrival. Here we have a stunning twist that reawakens the biggest dramatic event of its predecessor that instantly grabs our attention and puts us in high anticipation as familiar faces once more grace our screens.
We see Frodo and Sam continue their journey to Mordor and the initial interplay between the pair is repetitive conceptual dialogue from the previous release but once the pair admit to being stalked does the temperature change, and what a change.
Andy Serkis was knocked back for an Oscar nomination as his character Gollum is a CGI creation despite Serkis' heavy input but there is no denying the presence of the Englishman in this picture, winning fans with his two faced character ranking up the tension and interest. The manipulation and dark desire are beautifully intriguing.
The plot is consistent, if not quite as springy as the Fellowship. There is a heavy amount of politics encoded as we dive deeper into the story which gives great appreciation for the novels as Jackson once more proves he was the man for the job.