Nothing near as good as the first one

Rating: 7/10 (16 January 2003)

As the summary points out, I didn't find the two towers nearly as enjoyable as the first episode. Reasons for this are I believe quite obvious: The two towers is a mix of many things and tales and fails to grab the audience in the manner the first one did. In FOTR you felt enchanted as we were treated with beautiful images (and emotions in particular!) from the shire and from along the journey of the fellowship.
In TTT there is really no single plot. The movie consists of the combined tales of different characters and groups and they fail to connect. Even Gandalf, who in the first was a loveable wise man has become more of an action oriented character. In FOTR for ex. you could see Gandlaf pondering matters of great importance, and then find out that his wise decicions were based on a better odor in this corridor than the others. This kind of subtle humor and intelligence is missing in the second film.
Acting is excellent, as is everything else - technically. Soul and feeling is what is absent. And the ring. The ring is all but gone, it just hangs on Frodos neck.
Having said all of the above, I still liked the film quite a bit. It's just not as good as the first one, which is obviously the only film you can really compare this to. I give this one 7/10, which is a good grade. (as a side note, I suggest users would learn to use the FULL range of votes, instead of always giving tens to movies they happened to like a bit).