Dividing fans down the middle again...

Rating: 5/10 (26 December 2002)

I've read the books in the same near-religious manner as Christopher Lee since I was about six years old (thank heavens for parents that take the time to teach their children literacy). So for the better part of twenty years, I have been immersed in the world of Tolkien and his characters. The simple fact of the matter is that while this film takes a lot of liberties with the novel, for which it cannot honestly be blamed, it does so for the overall good of the story.
The novel is often a confused tome. Events in it take days and even weeks, and it feels so when reading the damned thing. In spite of being the shortest volume in the series, The Two Towers takes the longest time to read. Partly because very little happens in it, but mostly because Tolkien's habit of describing his characters a little less than the falling leaves is in full swing. Even some of the most literate and knowledgeable people I've met who are reading the book for the first time find themselves flipping back and forth through the pages, trying to determine exactly who the hell this or that new character is.
I also find it pretty amusing when people who cannot spell Arwen's name, a name that is probably one of the simplest in the Tolkien world, presume to critique the films for making more out of her romance with Aragorn than is mentioned in the novels. This is actually a very good move. All we read about Arwen is a few sentences (if that) in The Fellowship Of The Ring, then maybe a chapter or two in The Return Of The King. The appendices explain a bit more (and numerous elements of them appear in this film), but Tolkien erred in giving us no reason whatsoever to believe that Aragorn would choose a seemingly docile Elf-woman over a valiant human princess as his wife. The film fixes this by making Arwen the strong, determined character she should always have been.
Now where do I begin in describing the film? My only problems with it are that there is a tad too much jump-cutting, and the visuals can sometimes give the viewer a headache during the battles. But aside from these problems, I was more than pleasantly surprised. Elrond stops telling people "YOU must do this, YOU must destroy that", drops the almighty pretense, and questions himself as to whether he is doing the right thing by leaving Middle-Earth while it is in such peril. And where do I begin with Gollum? We've all seen how all-digital characters can really distract from a film before, thanks to George Lucas, but Gollum is so well-made it is almost as if he really existed and the crew just photographed him. He gets the hook into the audience right from the get-go - he is so treacherous and bitter, but so sad and pathetic at the same time, that one fears seeing how he became what he is rather than what he might do to our heroes.
Treebeard and his fellow Ents are little different. They look so real, and yet so unreal, that they completely sell the world of Tolkien to the viewer. Seeing the early stage of their battle in Isengard, I fully understood the meaning of one of the Sindarin themes in the score music. The English translation given in the lyrics sheet reads something like "The forest has declared war", and by the time the film is over, you will feel it is quite the understatement. Speaking of the score music, Gollum's Song is enough to bring tears to the eyes. With lyrics like "Don't say I didn't try" or "We are lost, we can never go home", it puts the viewer/listener in Gollum's hobbit-feet and makes one feel how it is to shake on them for a while.
You might want to skip the next paragraph if you don't want to ruin any surprises.
At first I was a bit perplexed by the ending. The novel ends with Shelob poisoing Frodo and Frodo being taken by Orcs while Sam takes the Ring and makes a solemn vow to complete the quest, while the film simply ends with Gollum muttering to himself about how "she" will take care of those nasty, tricksy little Hobbitses. However, this is actually a great note to end the film on, as it leaves the audience hanging in anticipation - the literate ones anticipating how Shelob will be realised, and those who haven't read the book wondering what Gollum is on about now. And more than anything, the changes in expression on Gollum's face as the Halfling he used to be argues with the monstrous thing he is now sells the contrast between Frodo's kindness and the monstrous cruelty shown to Gollum by Sam and the Men Of Gondor. As the film ends, and the credits roll over Gollum's song, there isn't a dry eye in the audience.
To cut a long story short, skip the inferior imitations and take your children to see this film. They will be grateful in later years that there was a story/film that respected their intelligence and didn't just sit there saying "goo-goo gaa-gaa" for two and a half hours at them. Who knows... after reading the novels and seeing these films, your children might even want to grow up to become linguists or the scientists who discover a way to do away with fossil fuel once and for all. Yes, this story, and the film(s), really are that inspiring.