"Like butter stretched over too much bread"

Rating: 1/10 (18 December 2002)

Yesterday, I saw "The Two Towers" and have to say that I am very disappointed. Even for someone who is not exactly a fan of Tolkien's world or the fantasy genre, the "Fellowship of the Ring" stood way beyond this sequel. A massive storyline and an excellent dramaturge concept made the first part appear smooth as silk. Chapters like "The Treason of Isengard" or "The Bridge of Khazad Dum" will always be remembered throughout the movie community and have set a new standard in this genre of film.
Now, "The two Towers" has literally NO plot, it seems that director Peter Jackson didn't have a clue about how he should start, unfold and end the story of this second part of the trilogy. Somehow, it now seems hard to believe that he was in charge of the first part... The sequence of Frodo and his fellows crossing the Marches, the exaggerated focus on the creature Gollum and tons of splatter-UrukHai-sequences are all a strange reminder of his previous movies Braindead or The Frighteners. The film reveals its entire structural weakness just by the fact that Pippin and Merry appear throughout the movie in one Neverending Story-like sequence which was mainly used as editing material.
The only impressive point so far is Howard Shore's incredible soundtrack on CD (even better than the first one!) and not so much in the film, where it was poorly used - amazing tracks like "The Forbidden Pool", "Breath of Life" or "Evenstar" are played in slapstick-like Gollum & Aragon scenes! Neither the old nor the newly introduced characters did have a chance to unfold properly. To put it in Bilbo's words: "Like butter stretched over too much bread".