Exceptional Cinema Experience

Rating: 10/10 (5 January 2003)

The part two installment of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy provided an exceptional cinema experience. Two Towers shows boundless imagination, exceptional direction, and good old fashioned escape quality. The battle scenes are truly epic, the scenes in the Dead Marshes are chilling and freakish, and the beginning sequence of Frodo's dream and the Balrog battle all together demonstrates sheer genius and rare quality in film making. The CGI creation of Gollum is a marvellous achievement in technology and raises the level and standard of film to new heights. The vast complicated scope of Tolkien's imagination has seen a remarkable transfer to the cinema, and the scope of the filmmaker's imagination is unlimited. Those viewers who didn't see the first film may become lost in the increasingly complicated story, but they won't be disappointed in the cinema basics. Never the less, rarely would a film maker dwell so richly on certain moments such as the King of Rohan's pathos. Indeed a lot of character development takes place in this second part of the trilogy, and this justifies the focus of the first part. We see the characters of Merry and Pippin take on new depth, and Frodo's turmoil allows actor Elijah Wood to turn in a fine performance as the loveable and innocent Hobbit turns into a tortured soul. Thus, anticipation is built to continue the journey with these now even more interesting characters. The pursuit of this project has greatly enriched film making. All kudos is due to the director, technicians and actors. This film earns a rare 10/10 from me; for this to me is what film making and what going to the cinema are all about.