The middle one

Rating: 8/10 (21 August 2011)

IMDb Top 250: 30 The Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers continues the epic story that began in Fellowship of the Ring. We meet new characters, develop others, and see epic battles.
There is such a phenomenon in film called 'Middle film syndrome' or something of the sort. It means that in a trilogy, the middle film is the weakest because it isn't exposition like the first film, or conclusion like the third. The Two Towers is a perfect example of this concept. The awe of Fellowship isn't present, and the finish of Return of the King doesn't happen, leaving... the middle.
I'm not trying to say Two Towers is a bad film. But compared to the other Lord of the Rings films, it is. They're AAA, Towers is AA. The characters introduced, like the King and nephew in Rohan, are thrown into the story without a reasonable introduction. The battle for Helm's Deep isn't that spectacular. Humour is misplaced. Even the films colour is wrong. Some of these factors can't really be fixed, because of the books, but some of them should've been dealt with.
There are still some great parts of Two Towers. Gollum is nuts, batty and crazy. His presence helps Frodo and Sam's scenes, which don't actually go anywhere. The Dead Marshes are creepy. Ringwraiths return- on new mounts. And the tree battle, the only epic scene in the movie.
Most of my problems with Two Towers are that the scale is diminished, no scenes other than the battle at Isengard leave the viewer in awe. The battle for Helm's Deep was also... not great. The sides weren't even close to being reasonable, making the result unbelievable. The colouring of the last battle made it seem very dark and bleak, but Gimli became a walking joke and Legolas rode a shield/surfboard. Clashing themes. The orcs didn't have anything special in that battle to make the battle interesting. In a series with groundbreaking battles, Two Towers came up short.
The Two Towers is a good film, but a mediocre Lord of the Rings film. If for some reason you see it before the other two, the others are far better. Not much else I can say, you're either in it for all 3 or not in it. Fear not, Return of the King is the strongest, a worthy finish of your time. 8.3/10