Take time to ponder

Rating: 9/10 (1 January 2003)

By this time last year, I had seen FOTR twice and contributed to several message board discussions. I rated it 10/10 and was of the firm opinion that it was the best movie that I had seen for a long time. I had no complaints about the differences between the screenplay and the book; the changes were appropriate, given the book's length, detail and differences of emphasis.
Inevitably, the passage of time and further viewings at the cinema, on video and the extended DVD prompted further thoughts. Whilst Peter Jackson's film is exceptionally good, it is not flawless. The most significant is Elijah Wood's Frodo who is too passive and insufficiently worldly-wise. The frequent shots of his doe-eyed gaze into Middle-Distance suggest someone who is transfixed by and unreactive to, all that happens to him. Still, The Two Towers would surely see his gradual change to a more "human" hobbit, as the ring increases its influence.
I have so far seen The Two Towers only once. My first impression is that, whilst Peter Jackson has created a worthy sequel, its impact has been diminished simply because it was preceded by FOTR - the visual style, effects, characterisation, pace are now rather too familiar. This does not make TTT a bad film. Peter Jackson knew that this would be a problem and appears to have spent the last year fiddling to counteract it. The promise was that since all three films were "made" at the same time, there would be a consistency that other similar projects lacked. This was of course not entirely true, and with so much post-production taking place after the release of FOTR, it is difficult to imagine that the director's work on TT was completely unaffected by the reception of its predecessor. Without the same impact, (or the hype!) the film can instead be considered on its merits. For example, has the aforementioned weak characterisation of Frodo been improved? At first viewing, only marginally so, but his anger at Sam in the ruins of Osgiliath promises further developments in the final film. If I were Peter Jackson, it is this that I would spend the next year fiddling with, and not the visual effects. Of course, if I was a "Tolkien Virgin", I might have had a profoundly different view. My niece, who has not read the book and has seen FOTR only once, laughed aloud every time Gollum appeared. Her reaction, that he was a figure of fun, was completely at odds with mine, that he is a figure of pathos...but was I right to be irritated at her response?
I would love to have been able to set aside my own familiarity with the books and previous dramatised versions and have come to these films afresh. Given that this is not possible, the best I can do is to take time to ponder; to see it again and not to leap to hasty conclusions as some other users seem to have done. I was certainly absorbed for three hours, and there was much to enjoy, as well as much to question, as others have done. For that reason, it will probably be a film that I will want to see not just once more, but many times more. I have no all-time favourite movie, although "Oh Mr Porter!", a bargain I picked up on video this Christmas and which I have loved ever since I saw it as an eight-year old, offers endless charming amusement. Could The Two Towers occupy a similar place in my affections in another 40 years?
Take time to ponder...