Where were the towers?

Rating: 3/10 (24 December 2002)

Seems to me that over a century of film-making and thousands of films later, most have still not understood that books and literature are one thing and that movies are quite another.
Just because Mr. Tolkien wrote three books, does not mean there have to be three films. It could have been two and it could have been five! We're watching and listening to the story, not reading it! The intensity of the senses applied in film-viewing is completely different to that which we apply in reading books, just as reading a novel has us differently poised to when we read poetry, or when we look at a painting as compared to admiring a sculpture.
For a start, Mr. Tolkien may, rightly, have entitled the second part of his trilogy "The Two Towers" and may even have made some reference to two such towers; but, what reference, if any, does the film make to one tower, let alone two??? A good title for a book does not, necessarily, make for a good title for a movie. I would have called this something like "Preparing For The Great Battle". After all, we all know the movie isn't really a movie; that it's only an episode, so why not give it a title more befitting an episode.
If you're going to take concepts described in literature and adapt them to film, then, consider the mind... Consider the intelligence of the viewer. If Tolkien conjures up images of an enchanted forest, make them just that: images of an enchanted forest. Trust the viewers' imagination and intelligence. Trees that walk and talk come off far better in Ralph Bakshi's animated version - if only because, as it is all cartoon, there is no stark sudden contrast between the realistic and the unrealistic. There is nothing magically genial (certainly nothing realistic) about Mr. Jackson's version of Beardtree and his Ent mates who, instead, suddenly turn a slow-moving overlong believable production into a slow-moving overlong UNbelievable cheap-looking film.
Long epic battles read well, but they translate poorly onto screen. One of the reasons why Gladiator was such a delight to watch is that the opening battle was turned into short sharp memorably effective punch. What could anyone describe as memorable about the battle in this movie?? I'm sure it'll give those who believe that films are intended as a prequel to video game spinoffs great satisfaction to know they'll be swinging swords and killing Orks for hours and hours, JUST LIKE IN THE MOVIE!
Watch Mr. Bakshi's animation (6 out of 10). In two hours, he'll give you the full sense of the first two books in Tolkien's trilogy, directly and unpretentiously. If you want anything more than that, or you just want to know how it all ends, you'll simply have to read every last word of that thousand-page Trilogy.
This film is worth 4 out of 10.