too violent and depressing for my taste

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2002)

i must say that i was disappointed in this second installment in the lord of the rings trilogy. two towers has none of the beauty of the first film that made it more enjoyable to me. this movie was much darker and violent, which will appeal to the violent videogame mainstream, but i've had it with being bombarded with such stuff. i feel that it's why people have become noticeably ruder in the last ten years. society is being desensitized.
i loved the 1st movie's lush visuals alot from the quaint hobbit countryside to the grandiose architecture of the elves. none of that is to be found in this movie. most of the visuals are of the dimly lit nearly monochromatic variety. after 3 hours of it, it began to become oppressive.
it seemed too that whenever people weren't violently hacking at each other in two towers, they were busy going on with tiresome long speeches. to be fair, golem has one heck of "speech" that is very entertaining and sheds new light onto his character. but, i felt that alot of the intrigue within the castle of the king that was under saurumon's influence could have been pared down a little. it started getting to be too much like hamlet for my taste.
two towers isn't a bad movie, i gave it a 7 even though i might have rated it higher had not an overwhelming majority given it a 10. it just wasn't my kind of movie. it was a nonstop depression/violence fest for the most part.
in it's favor, it has even better special effects than the 1st and on a MUCH larger scale. it has alot more action than the first, but i like lord of the ring's sentimentality just fine thank you. the fighting scenes in towers are great action pieces from the smaller wizard battles to the 3 or more full scale battle scenes.
the definite highlight of the movie for me was golem's part in the movie. he really steals several of the scenes he's in, and offers the closest thing to upbeat that this film has to offer. if you're a fan of movies like spawn, then this will definately be your kind of movie. i just found myself wishing for at least the slightest glimmer of beauty and romance, but it isn't to be found in this film. most people seem to love it alot, but i've never been into mainstream movies too much. your results may vary.