A well-made sequel that doesn't quite match the original.

Rating: Null/10 (6 January 2003)

************NOTE - SOME MINOR SPOILERS**************
Got to see this new one on Saturday and had a few quick thoughts. First off, a disclaimer - I have never read the full trilogy. I skimmed over the Fellowship Of The Ring when I was about 12 years old but got bogged down in the multitude of characters and plot twists. I do know that the books are some of the best written in the 20th century and am impressed so far with Peter Jackson's direction of the stories. Now, The Two Towers is a "good" movie. Much better than a lot of the crap Hollywood shovels out normally. However, compared to Fellowship falls a little short.
First off, I didn't get a sense for much of the humanity in this film that I got in the first one. Not until the end does Sam make a little monologue about the nature of "goodness" and how it is worth fighting for. There are other moments when the King is talking about the nature of war and Treebeard talks about the attitude of the forest and that stuff works but I didn't "feel" as much this time around.
Secondly, in the first film there was a great scene where Boromir dies because he couldn't resist the temptation of the Ring. In his final words to Aragorn, he talks about this and how he realized it was his downfall. This kind of 3-dimensional characterizing is what made the Fellowship a success to me; instead of copping typical Hollywood cliches about "good and evil", we find conflicted anti-heroes you can believe. In this movie there is simply too much "Jar Jar Dwarf" in the character of Gimli. Too many throw-away silly lines about his height, tossing dwarfs, etc. This dialogue really brought a cheezy feel to what should be a proud and dignified (though slight) character.
Also along the lines of "cheezy", don't get me started on the elf "shield-boarding" down the stairs during the climactic battle scene near the end. Scenes like this come across as pandering to the younger crowd and rob the film (and books) of its inherent dignity. Someone with a feel for the books (Jackson himself?) shoulda stepped in and stopped this silliness.
There was also less development of the villains in this one. Brad Dourif could've made for a great villain as Grima Wormtongue (as he was as Pieter in David Lynch's somewhat flawed Dune). But in spite of a few bits of interesting dialog he disappears only to be found floundering around Saruman's feet. And Saruman himself doesn't hold up nearly as evil while looking desperate when Treebeard and gang attack Isengard. Gollum is an interesting, conflicted anti-hero (along the lines of Boromir - but even more demented because of the power of the Ring) that was developed somewhat with interesting monologues (though hard to understand at times). But there didn't seem to be enough of these fellows (sans Gollum and his soliloquies). Overall, those helping Sauron are interesting baddies and I wouldve liked to see more from them (especially Christopher Lee's Saruman). Lets hope we get more in the next installment.
Alas, for all these deficiencies, there are some truly inspired moments in The Two Towers. Obviously the storming of the keep at the end is some of the greatest film-making ever (no over-exaggeration there either). Jackson and crew truly made you feel like you were watching the CNN-televised take on this historic event. The CGI was very seamless (even Gollum looked real when a lesser FX crew could've made him look fake) and as a matter of fact I was very impressed with how the movie kept the consistent look and feel of the Fellowship. Of course, it was always great to see Gandalf again - Ian McKellan IS this character through and through (such a great actor).
In the end, The Two Towers ranks as one of the better action films I've seen but didn't hold my interest as well as its predecessor. I was wondering when it would end just before the big battle, whereas I found myself a bit sad during Fellowship when it was clear that movie was about over (how many 3 hour+ movies are there where you actually wish it would continue its so good?). But you can do much worse than Two Towers and I recommend it for most intelligent movie-goers. It is a thrilling ride, no doubt about that. Let's just hope Jackson & Co. work on regaining some of the dignified emotional magic from the Fellowship when they make Return Of The King.
**** out of 5 stars