Superb Story, Sub-par Directing

Rating: 9/10 (29 December 2002)

I will make my comments away from the film's story but about the film's directing. We all know that the LOTR has one of the most powerful stories ever in the media (including literature). I've never read the novels but still very much enjoy the story on film. However, I can only imagine what the film would be like if it had a better director. My opinion of "The Two Towers" is the same as "The Fellowship of the Ring". Both films are driven by story. I enjoyed both films extremely only because of the stories. This leads to my disappointment of Peter Jackson's film directing abilities. However, I guess a man jumping from a blockbuster as "The Frighteners" (sarcasm) lived up to my expectations. Peter Jackson is not a young man and seeing how terrible his films were before LOTR, I expected a story driven film trilogy. Why was he chosen for this film? What credits does he have that make him honorable? Any director that has such a powerful license to a story such as LOTR is going to be successful. If you look at the film from a director's perspective, there is nothing special about it. The film is watered down to nothing more than overhead fly-bys, which gets very old, early in the film it was like watching "Behind Enemy Lines" again. The battle scenes are gorgeous simply because of location and CG, but there's no uniqueness to them. Something Peter Jackson needs to make in order to make him stand out as one of the great directors to date. He does not take advantage of the opportunity he has with LOTR. An amateur film director could have designed the scenes for each battle. They were too simplistic. Mind you, you must get over the strength of the story and look at the basics of the direction of the film. I would've liked to seen what a director such as Ridley Scott or Steven Spielberg could have done with LOTR. These film makers always seem to bring something new to the screen with each movie, something that makes them stand out, something Peter Jackson lacks. Many people don't like Spielberg, but I like Spielberg films because they are always beautifully directed, same as Ridley Scott. The point of this editorial is something that everyone should notice and not look at LOTR as the novel, but as the film. Peter Jackson's sub-par direction is hidden behind the story of LOTR.