This One Goes to 11!

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2002)

Since The Fellowship of the Ring was clearly a "10" in it's scope, acting, effects and story, calling Two Towers a "10" does it a great injustice. The acting in this installment is again top notch, especially the performance by Bernard Hill as Theoden, which should secure him a Best Supporting Actor nod from the Academy. New love interest Eowyn (Miranda Otto) is also deserving of great praise. I longingly await the release of the extended version of Towers in the hope that it contains more of her character. Despite these exceptional performances, plus the emergence of considerably more content on Aragorn (heart-throb), Gimli (comic relief) and Samwise (true hero), the film is completely and entirely stolen by Gollum/Smeagol. Not only is the CG character the most believable ever put up on the big-screen, but his schizophrenic debates are nothing short of pure cinematic gold. Can a CG character be nominated for an Oscar???
The grand finally with its interlaced battle scenes between Helm's Deep, Osgiliath (Gondor) and Isengard is among the best I've ever seen on film, particularly the epic battle at Helm's Deep. The detailed battle scenes, a very realistic view of siege warfare and medieval combat, are better than those in Braveheart (A Best Picture award winner). Of course, giving that TTT is a Fantasy, as opposed to a completely fictionalized historical drama (alla Braveheart), I fully expect it will be ignored, again, for Best Picture and Best Director Oscars. It shouldn't however, for it deserves both of these awards.
Only two very small complaints: I would have enjoyed seeing more of Christopher Lee's fantastic performance as Saruman. I would also have preferred an altogether new voice actor for the voice-over on Treebeard, who clearly sounded too much like Gimli (John Rhys-Davies). Neither point adversely affects the film.
A well acted and filmed, timeless epic with meaning and applicability for all the Ages, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers soars well beyond a `10' rating. This film goes to `11'.