Great picture, but lacking of the first...

Rating: 8/10 (25 December 2002)

As a fan of Tolkein's books, I may be the first person on the planet (that I've heard of) to say that I didn't like the second movie as well as the first. Don't hate me please.
As moviegoers, we can all understand the adaptation process, yet in the second film, Peter, Pilippa (Spelling?) and the rest of the writing crew fell short of the adaptation process (es.) Just my opinion, and I know some of you won't agree, but I feel that as a fan I deserve my two cents.
First point to make is the threat of war: At the end of the first film there is the threat of war...we realize that war is inevitable, but it's not on our heels just yet. Yet, at the beginning of the second film, it's as if war has taken us from the beginning of the picture. I know there's only so much you can do in a three hour span, but a lot of time in this picture was given to some more secondary things. (i.e.= too much chasing across landscapes for Merry and Pippin...and extremely long battle sequences during the Helm's Deep.) -- again some of you may have problems with me saying Helm's Deep was secondary...but that's not what I'm saying at all. But, the amount of time taken to visualize the scenes was too long.
Second point: The role of Faramir, Baromir's brother, was written almost totally different from the book. In the novel, Faramir is a very wise and accepting person, (as was his brother) yet it also explains that Faramir was quite different from his brother...and when he finds the true nature of the burden Frodo carries, he completely understands (even if almost instinctly) that he couldn't, and would not, bring such a burden to mankind. Yet, in the picture, he rushes Sam and Frodo off to Minas Tirith (by way of Osgiliath) to take the ring to man...which never even happens. I was disappointed with Faramir's character in the film, because even though Peter, Philippa, and the writing crew show that Faramir is different than Baromir in the end, the whole of Faramir's character (the way that Tolkien wrote it) is crushed by the screenplay.
Third point: I felt that the CGI characters in the film were something that could have been better constructed, although I am by no means anyone with skills enough even to create such amazing things on screen. There's one scene where the lion-like attackers persuade Aragorn and his crew...I felt like I was watching a he-man cartoon and Battle-Cat (if anyone knows who he is) was cloned many times and people were riding on him. I know that Weta, with the technology they have, could have easily bettered the outcome of the visual battle in these sequences...and I won't even start on gollum. (final fantasy was better. That's all I have to say about him.)
I was so excited going into this film and so dissappointed when the ending credits rolled. What about the Huorns? Where are they? The first of the trilogy was almost flawless, leaving out so little vital things to the story, but I was left speechless at the closing curtain to the Two Towers...and not a good speechless. What about more history of the Ents? You know...one of the oldest, wisest, most intersting parts of the second installment. Who knows.
All I know is that even though the movie did almost fulfill my need for a bridge between the first and third, it didn't include half the material (or even get included material right enough) for true fans to enjoy it as much as we would have liked. 7.5 out of 10 -- on my scale. The first -- 9.5
When did the elves fight with the humans during Helm's Deep too?
-Thanks for your time. :)