SPOILER

Rating: Null/10 (30 December 2002)

Much as I anticipated the release of the Two Towers, i was very much disappointed with the plotholes and additions to the storyline.
I am aware that the inclusion of Arwen was to attract more males to see the film, although I'm sure the battle scenes in the advert alone drew thousands to their nearest cinema. She has no part in the book, and her leaving for Valinor was a load of tripe. This never happened! No elven army arrived at Helm's Deep, the Ents DID decide to attack Isengard, and Haldir is not from Rivendell. The performance of Sean Astin was good, his speech about the need to pursue good was tear-inducing, but the hints of a more than friendly relationship are particularly annoying. Both Elijah Wood and Sean Astin played the parts well, all the actors played parts well, but it is the scripts i have a bone to pick with. I loved the portrayal of the riders of Rohan, just as i imagined them, with music to match the fantastic architecture and wardrobe. Brad Dourif was brilliant as Wormtongue, he was perfectly evil and slimy just as Tolkien portrays. i was delighted with Andy Serkis's performance as Gollum, and even more so when he sung his song in the forbidden pool. I loved the costumes, the score and the battle scenes, but one character in particular i have to demean. Gimli is shown as a comic, when of course in Middle Earth, he was a warrior. And to finish, i will critisize the ending. I expected a cliffhanger, as the one in the book, yet i was given a mention of 'she' who of course is mentioned much earlier in the book. Many viewers overlooked the pronoun, and presumed that Gollum was referring to his precious self, or as some of my companions cared to put it, his 'schiz self' but he was speaking of the creature which he leads the hobbits to to conclude the two towers as a book.
It is a habit of mine to critisize so that when others do this, i am prepared and don't just leap to the films defence. I was very pleased with the two towers, save for the mentioned mistakes and disappointments.