Does anything rhyme with Uruk-hai?

Rating: 10/10 (12 July 2008)

Trilogies have one major flaw -- it's not so much a fault, just an inherent difficulty. In the case of the middle film of the original Star Wars trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back, it was overcome; here, in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, it was not.
The flaw is the meandering middle, and the first hour of this otherwise fine movie suffers from it. The story begins where the first film ended, and we the audience now have three different paths to follow: Sam and Frodo; Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli; and Merry and Pippin. The latter proves the most entertaining, and unfortunately the duo of Frodo and Sam -- and later the addition of Gollum -- is all but glossed over, given enough attention to inform but only as an end to set up Return of the King.
These are not necessarily complaints -- this is an epic, not a character tale, and in epics priority is given to battles and large set pieces. The Two Towers spares nothing in this regard, as the Battle for Helm's Deep is eloquently captured, a delight to watch.
Finally, though, in the last hour of the movie, we are given a break from the carnage and are offered a little reprieve with the addition of David Wenham as Faramir. He, as well as Elijah Wood, solidify this film as more than entertaining filler and deepen our understanding of the characters and their hardships.
Once again, the special effects are astoundingly good -- and, unlike in the first movie, here they don't draw too much attention to themselves. The set, wardrobe, and production designs serve to illustrate the cultures they represent, to add a history and sadness to the peoples they envelop, shelter, and clothe.
Gangs of New York was the best film of 2002, but right behind it was The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.