Fantastic but not flawless

Rating: Null/10 (21 January 2003)

This film moves the now broken fellowship further on their journey, but in the end it is as if they are no closer to Mordor. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and co. take centerstage, with Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) especially played humourously. While often good as light relief, his endless stupidity is annoying, and he really comes into his own at the battle scenes at Helm's Deep. This fight is epic - yet still only a taster of what is to come. It is perfectly planned by director Peter Jackson, and is such an improvement on the book's battle scene. There are new characters, but apart from one or two, none are lost from the first film. However, these new characters vary. All of the men of Rohan are bland and uninteresting - Theoden (Bernard Hill) is never exciting and the love possibility between Aragorn and Eowyn (Miranda Otto)barely explored. But one of the new characters is also one of the best. Brad Dourif's Wormtongue is a wonderful, slimy character who crawls between Saruman (Christopher Lee) and Theoden like the worm he is. His interest in Eowyn is also interesting, and unnerving. The special effects are truly stunning, although the first-time feeling of amazement is gone with this sequel. Highlights include the Black Gates of Mordor, pulled by trolls, and the Ents, which seem dignified as opposed to laughable, as they could have been. However the most incredible aspect of the film, by FAR, is Andy Serkis' Gollum. Far and away the most complex CG character ever, Gollum is actually one of the most human characters in the film. Every line, eye movement, hair is there, and Serkis' voice is wonderful. His movement and interaction with Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) is fantastic. And we see his emotions. When he is called Smeagol, we see everything in his eyes and his voice. He jumps between hilarious, pitiful, untrustworthy and lovable. The standout scene of both LOTR films so far shows the two sides of his personality coming out and arguing - it is incredible. Gollum is absolutely amazing. The script has holes in - the director has clear favourite characters - Sam (who has a speech at the end almost identical to that in Fellowship), Gimli and Gollum among them. The dialogue sometimes seems too trivial. But TWO TOWERS IS AN EPIC. There is nothing that can change that, and it is spellbinding throughout.