A film crying out for a "director's cut"

Rating: Null/10 (20 December 2002)

Is "The Two Towers" better than "The Fellowship Of The Ring"? That's rather an unfair question. I went to see the film hoping that it would be 'as excellent as' the first part of the trilogy and I wasn't disappointed.
After a fairly slow start (though with some awesome sweeps across New Zealand's unspoilt landscapes) we spend the next few hours switching between Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli (as they race to rescue Pippin and Merry) and Frodo and Sam (as they race towards Mount Doom to dispose of the Ring). The culmination of the film is a breathtaking battle at Helm's Deep with Men and Elves pitted against the full might of Saruman.
The main characters are fleshed out in this film (Frodo and Sam in particular) and Gimli provides some welcome comic relief during the final battle sequence (which I think is rather too gruesome for the 12A rating the film's been given in the UK).
You could run out of superlatives simply describing the action sequences, the sets and the CGI work, before you even come to what I consider as the scene-stealer of the film which really puts the "wow!" into the "the wow factor". Much has been said of the character Gollum/Smeagol, but nothing prepares you for his first appearance - if this is what the next generation of CGI looks like, then actors beware! Andy Serkis (who voiced and provided the motion-capture for the character) and Wega Digital are to be congratulated for creating a character that can have you reduced to tears (as, I have to admit, it did me). If they don't win an Oscar for this, then there is no justice.
Much has also been said of the Ents. They're not as bad as I was expecting them to be and to be honest, you can't make walking, talking trees look anything other than rather stupid, no matter what budget you have at your disposal.
The only real fault with the film (and a similar fault with "The Fellowship Of The Ring" before the extended version was released on DVD) is that it's rather scrappily edited. There are times when you question how something suddenly occured and the sudden jumps between scenes become rather headache-inducing. This film is crying out for a cohesive director's cut (and hopefully this will be with us within the year).
Overall a brilliant film. If you enjoyed the first part of "The Lord Of The Rings", you'll definitely enjoy the second. Roll on next year and "The Return Of The King"!
Film - 9/10 Gollum/Smeagol - 10/10