Over-long and dull.

Rating: 5/10 (26 December 2002)

I have a sneaky suspicion that many, not all mind you but many, of the people going to see The Two Towers are watching it with blinders on. Seeing only what they wish to see and not seeing what is being presented on the screen.
For years we have been told that The Lord of the Rings is the defining work of fantasy fiction. It is no doubt very thought out and well written but when you come right down to it the novels are very often quite dull and over-long and that is brought out magnificently in the second installment The Two Towers, which is itself quite dull and over-long.
The Two Towers is a great looking movie and very well acted, the problem is it isn't very well paced. Overall the movie doesn't even need to exist for all it accomplishes. As has been pointed out it bridges the gap between the first and third films however it doesn't justify a 3 hour running time.

Is The Two Towers an action picture? I certainly hope not! If it is the film makers need to take another look at the first two hours of the film which are only lightly peppered with action sequences and to make matters worse contain fewer pieces of important/interesting plot. The final 45 minutes is loaded with action footage and does pick up the pace of the rest of the movie quite nicely. The battle at Helm's Deep is a magnificent spectacle but alone cannot save the movie. The battle of the Ents is also visually impressive but, as with the Helm's Deep battle, ends rather unsatisfyingly. Instead of being climactic battle scenes both battles instead play as saviors to an otherwise dull movie.
At 3 hours The Two Towers is over-long but even with an hour shaved off the running time I don't think this movie has what it takes to be truly "great". Although I do think special notice should be made of Gollum as he is very well done and the most interesting character in the movie and makes the otherwise enormously dull Frodo and Sam portions of the film worth watching.
I throughly enjoyed The Fellowship of the Ring but The Two Towers fails to entertain. This, however, is not necessarily the film makers fault but due to the flaws in the source material. When watched with blinders off The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers receives and deserves a 5 out of 10.