My Preciousss...

Rating: 10/10 (1 January 2003)

I am from Brazil, and should say that Tolkien has become incredibly popular over here with the LOTR movies. I have read the books, am currently reading Silmarillion. The first movie, Fellowship of the Ring, simply blew me away. I had to watch it five times before I could believe it. And this movie (the Two Towers) has done it again.
It owns by far the BEST epic battle sequences my eyes have witnessed. Forget about Braveheart, 13th warrior, Gladiator or any other movie. This is prime. And this alone should captivate the audience. Oh, but there is more. There is so much more.
This movie should also amaze the audience with the creature named Gollum. Despite being CG, Gollum will give you shivers and it will be hard (very hard) to believe that Smeagol is not real. Once again, forget about Jar Jar Binks, Dobby or any other CG character. This impersonation made by Andy Serkis is so perfect it will bring tears to your eyes.
The complaints on this one are about the changes in the story (faramir being tempted by the ring, elves in Helms Deep and so on). To be honest, I did not think that those changes compromised the main plot. They were necessary as Peter Jackson (who dedicated many years of his life to this project) saw them. And who are we Tolkien Geeks to complain? The movie is absolutely wonderful.
Oh, I forgot to mention Treebeard, Gimli, The Warg Battle (absolutely thrilling), King Theoden (an excellent performance by Bernard Hill) and, of course, the best opening sequence (dueling with Apocalipse Now) that I've known: Gandalf vs. The Balrog of Morgoth.