Brings Tolkien's tale to life

Rating: 10/10 (1 January 2003)

The Two Towers is the middle piece of Tolkien's masterful fantasy, The Lord of the Rings. Although written to entertain children, this story becomes PG-13 entertainment on the screen. This section of the author's tale is actually many stories in one. Following the first installment, The Fellowship, it continues to follow the surviving characters as they now move along different paths. Differing but related plots involve two seperated pair of Hobbits, one pair moving toward evil Mordor in an attempt to destroy the ring, the second, captured by the enemy, to eventually escape and take on the battle of one of the two towers. Other plots involve the transformation of Gandalf the gray wizard into a more powerful being, and the battles for two human cities. A new character, once known as Gollum is soon recognized as a relative of the Hobbits. Utterly destroyed by long possession of the ring this character truely bears the name Smeagol. He is a wonderfully digitized character. It was most difficult to believe that Smeagol was an animation. The story starts with the continuing battle of Gandalf and the creature in the caves of Moria. It continues, non stop with action and battle after action and battle. The war scenes are terrific. If not a fantasy, these scenes would rate with the battles of Private Ryan. As with the battle scenes, the entire movie is terrific, rating a strong 5. Hopefully, the academy can allow itself to give a Best Movie Oscar to a show made purely for entertainment. If ever a movie didn't disappoint after reading the book, this is it. A warning however, Two Towers is very graphic. It may have been written for children, but this director undoubtably made it for those of us that first read it years ago, and are now adults. It may give young tots nightmares.