Shines in some places, flops in others

Rating: Null/10 (28 February 2003)

I have mixed feelings for LOTR: The Two Towers. I loved FOTR. LOVED it. Sure, there were some differences from Tolkien's story here and there that I thought could have been avoided, the most obvious being Arwen at the Ford, but they didn't detract from my enjoyment of the movie. Two Towers is a different story. I know that this is just one man's interpretation of Tolkien's work, and that there will never be a movie version of a book that adheres completely to the book, but some of the changes Peter Jackson made here are too much in my opinion. Without a doubt, the most upsetting to me were the changes to the Frodo/Sam/Faramir arc of the story, especially the butchering of Faramir's character. Gone is the noble warrior I know and love from the book. He's replaced with, basically, a second coming of his brother Boromir. Whatever happened to the Faramir that said, "I would not take this thing {the Ring}, if it lay by the highway. Not were Minas Tirith falling in ruin and I alone could save her, so, using the weapon of the Dark Lord for her good and glory."? Jackson's Faramir is a complete contradiction of Tolkien's Faramir. I can only hope that the true Faramir is shown in Return of the King.
Another disappointment is the handling of Gimli's character. I have nothing against comic relief--I think comic relief is actually necessary in a movie as dark and tense as this one--but Peter Jackson pushed it a little far. Gimli was supposed to be a fierce warrior to be taken seriously, not a barrel of laughs.
Now that the bad stuff's out of the way, there were some things that I loved about TTT. First of all, Gollum. Brilliantly done! The CGI was excellent. Andy Serkis did a marvelous job with his voice and movements. I loved his back-and-forth conversations with himself as well. And the fish-and-chips scene was priceless! I was so glad that they included that.
Helm's Deep was magnificent. Not as close to the book as it could have been, but this is one place where it didn't bother me as much. I actually think that having Elves at Helm's Deep was one of the better changes Jackson made. And one of the best scenes in the movie was Gandalf's charge down the mountain towards the Uruk-hai, the Rohirrim riding behind. The music especially makes this an incredible scene, one that gives me goosebumps every time I see it.
Wormtongue was another highlight of the movie. I thought he was played to perfection by Brad Dourif, just creepy and sinister enough. The scene between him and Eowyn made my skin crawl.
The Storming of Isengard was outstanding. I didn't like the way the Ents had to be tricked into going to war, but the Storming helps to make up for it. Brilliantly done, and the look on Saruman's face was just priceless.

Overall, this was not as good as FOTR, but still a good movie. There were some changes from Tolkien's story that were definite disappointments, but TTT still has enough good stuff to be worth multiple viewings. I give it 7 and a half out of 10.