Money well spent

Rating: Null/10 (18 December 2002)

The crucial question about Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy seems to be: Is it just for Tolkien fans, or a "general audience"? I went to see it with my mom who's never read Tolkien; she liked Part I last year and liked Part II even more, but then she has her own cinematic agenda (based largely on sets & costumes, plus she loves horses). As for the story, it was basically "good vs. evil" again; she noted that it's easy to tell one from another: the bad guys are hideously ugly, & the good guys aren't.
I read the trilogy over 20 years ago and confess I don't remember most of the middle book, so if Jackson made lots of changes, he could have fooled me. I remembered certain plot details from Ralph Bakshi's animated 1978 version. So I knew in advance more or less how Jackson's "Two Towers" would begin and end, the rest was up for grabs. By and large it didn't grab me, but talk about money well spent! The physical authenticity from last year's movie is, if anything, exceeded here, and as for SFX, the Gollum character alone deserves an Oscar. Can a computer-generated character be said to steal a movie? It's almost too good; I couldn't take my eyes off Gollum, even when he was off in the corner of the screen; I forgot the various heroic events occurring elsewhere. Inasmuch as I already know how the story ends, the warped "humanity" of Gollum afforded a poignancy to what I know will occur that I never would have anticipated. If there's a "tragic figure" in this tale, Gollum's it, whether it be "Greek" tragedy---"What a shame it had to be this way" -- or "Christian" tragedy --"What a shame it was this way when it could have been some other way."
But for the most part I found this movie curiously uninvolving in an emotional sense. There's nothing here remotely as gripping as the death of Boromir in Part I, which made me cry each of the three times I saw it in the cinema. Part II doesn't even take time for a recap, just plunges in more or less where Part I left off and after a while I felt like a tourist on one of those meticulously planned whirlwind foreign tours, events kept rushing along--"Okay, here's this! Here's that! Let's keep it moving, folks, you can take pictures from the bus!" Part I told a wonderful story at what seemed it's own natural pace, and the three hours just flew by. Part II always seems to be running late, and IT'S three hours just pile up. **** POSSIBLE SPOILER FOLLOWING *******

When the new Gandalf appears with the cavalry to lift the siege of Helms Deep, that should have been a real cathartic charge for the audience, but it almost seems over before it starts; there should have been more depiction of the tide turning, as was the case in Bakshi's version. Also there seemed to be too many things occurring simultaneously, what with Helms Deep AND the tree creatures showing up at Saruman's tower AND yet another battle with Frodo & Sam on hand. It all seems to get cleared up lickety split so we can send the dynamic duo (plus Gollum) on their not-so-merry way to Part III. I remember Tolkien's Book 3 much better than 2. Jackson has his work cut out for him getting everything in. If he just does justice to the Harrowing of the Shire, I'll settle for that. Plus Sam's closing line.
I almost envy the non-Tolkien viewers who can just watch a good yarn. Special mention for my single favorite shot, the procession of elves going away with the lanterns, plus the lugubriously juicy Brad Dourif as Grima Wormtongue, a performance every bit as career-capping as that of black-eyed Christopher Lee as Saruman. Watch them in the tower scene with the army out front, it's two old veterans of cinema shlock working their magic. I can't wait for their big Harrowing scene in Part 3. DON'T SCREW THAT UP, JACKSON.
Kudos to Jackson for the shots of the women & kids helplessly awaiting their fate in Helms Deep, reminding us that those most hurt in war aren't necessarily the warriors.