The most epic trilogy of my lifetime

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2002)

I'm not going to leave a big in depth review of LotR: the Two Towers for 2 reasons: 1) I should be studying for a final and 2) I'm sure countless other people will point out all the reasons this movie was absolutely amazing. But I will leave some quick feedback saying this... I was not a fan of the first movie of this trilogy. I gave it a 6/10 on IMDb because I felt it just served as a poor, jumbled introduction with tons of nice imagery but no substantial plot or character development underneath. Nothing in the movie made an impact on me, and by the end I just wanted to get over with it already.
Where the Fellowship fell sort, the Two Towers makes up and then some. Although some characters remain rather one dimensional (Legolas), we see depth in the acting and script with characters such as Aragorn, Sam, and particularly Frodo and Golum (although the "acting" in Golum's place isn't of the typical kind, obviously), that rivals any film I've ever seen before. Gone is the "who cares" feel I got from major events in the first movie, now by the end of the film when three different sub-plots are going on at the same time, I was almost equally on the edge of my seat for all three, and certainly was not uninterested in any. The plot may be clichéd and done before, but if so it's only because this is the outline that everyone else copied, this is one of THE original epic fantasy story lines ever written, and it's sincerity and urgency still comes through, despite so many copycats.
I really need to get back to studying, but I will leave you with this. LotR: the Two Towers combines a deep, epic storyline, stellar acting, stunning visuals, and absolute edge of your seat action into a package the likes of which I doubt I'll ever see again in my lifetime. I hope the conclusion of the trilogy proves me wrong, but until then... do yourself a favor and see this movie over the winter break.
10/10