I'm tired. And I'm not alone.

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2002)

This is it.
"The Two Towers" has just opened. One can foresee the after-viewing thoughts and debates to explode any time now. At the threshold of this taste-variant blood bath, all I can say is, let it be...
I have seen and since loved that seminal opening chapter to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, "The Fellowship of the Ring". Like that much loved film, I do not judge "The Two Towers" as a stand-alone movie with flaws for nitpicking. I look upon it as a further unveiling of Peter Jackson's LOTR mythology, his visionary adaptation from book to screen. But that's just my take and my take alone...all are free to disagree with this humble reviewer as I'm not a believer in "taste-dictatorship".
Notice I stated Peter Jackson's and not Tolkien's LOTR. With all due respect for JRR Tolkien (and the wrath of his literary groupies), I think that LOTR should by now be just as much a labour of love for Jackson as it once was for Tolkien. Judged as work of art in another artistic medium (film), what Jackson has achieved, is in my humble opinion, a masterpiece in its own right.
Dissenters of LOTR movies, we know who you are. In an ideal world, we will respect each other for the movies we like, the faith we practice and the lives we lead. But in reality, nothing is as black and white as middle-earth. For good or evil, I have thus come to terms with the spectrum of people's reaction to this much debated film series. I will thus accept in grace the searing attacks or equally gushing compliments TTT will likely garner in the days and weeks ahead.
I have nothing more to add on my present state of mind. That I love the LORD OF THE RINGS movies, is but a given. That I am now taking the higher road of no more bickering is my choice. A choice which I pray I will have the strength to honour. Consider that my leap of faith.
In conclusion, the story is far from over. Like Gandalf's famous last words in TTT (the movie), "The battle for Helm's Deep may be over, but the battle for Middle Earth has just begun..." Till then, I shall breathe, while I wait for "The Return of the King"...peace and out.