meticulous attention to detail.........

Rating: 8/10 (28 November 2003)

After director Peter Jackson's exciting and emotionally affecting first chapter in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy you would think he could do no wrong. While The Two Towers continues to up the stakes in terms of action and pure escapism it does not quite live up the sheer perfection of Fellowship of the Ring.
TTT starts exactly where Fellowship left off. Frodo and Sam continue on their quest to Mordor while Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are on the trail of the orcs who took Merry and Pippin. The story follows three distinct threads (that of Frodo and Sam, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli and Merry and Pippin), unlike FotR, which was quite linear in its storytelling.

The introduction of new characters such as Gollum (a work of technical genius), Eowyn (played with perfect restraint by Miranda Otto), Faramir (David Wenham) and Grima Wormtongue helps to keep the story interesting.

Though much complaint has been aimed at Faramir's out of character behaviour, in regards to the source material, and other deterrence's from the book. I wholeheartedly understand why the writers took these minor liberties with the direction that was taken with his character, as it no doubt works better for the film.
The majority of TTT basically foreshadows what is to come in Return of the King and also sets up the most exciting aspect of this movie, the battle of Helm's Deep. The battle is technically impressive, with ingenious cinematography from Andrew Lesnie, brilliant choreography of fight scenes and a perfect score from Howard Shore to compliment the action and heighten the tension.

I do have my complaints though. The fact this is the bridging chapter is noticeable and while some of the film's weaknesses can be attributed to this, no good reason can be given for the extremely slow pacing of the first 90 minutes. This is primarily due to some extremely annoying editing and writing choices that detract from the overall movie. Arwen's scenes and the unneeded, and somewhat underwhelming, Warg Rider battle simply don't add anything worthwhile to the story. Several scenes that can now be seen on TTT Extended Edition would have been better suited to the theatrical cut.

Had the omission of Arwen's plot been considered, allowing for the insertion of some truly satisfying material (such as Aragorn's revelation to Eowyn that he is 87 years old and the Entwash scene), The Two Towers, in my eyes, would have been the perfect bridging chapter between FotR and RotK. As it stands a good 30 minutes could have been edited out of the theatrical version and this movie would surely be more deserving of the praise it receives.
The Two Towers is a slightly disappointing middle chapter to what is becoming one of the greatest movie series ever made. Quality is one thing this series will be associated with and TTT continues this trend with its meticulous attention to detail, brilliant special effects and impressive acting.
8 out of 10 EE - 9 out of 10