Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers review

Rating: 10/10 (2 May 2011)

The second movie in the trilogy, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, is a fantasy/action movie about one hobbit and the continuation of his quest to destroy the all-powerful ring to save mankind, hobbits, and other creatures alike. Saruman, played by Christopher Lee, is building his army of orcs to destroy mankind under the power of the Dark Lord Sauron, and anyone who fights with them. He has an eye that can see the ring that Frodo, played by Elijah Wood, carries around his neck. The ring is drawn to the eye, and the burden of carrying it gets harder and harder for Frodo, as he and Sam, another hobbit played by Sean Austin, make their way to Mordor. In the meantime, Aragorn, played by Viggo Mortensen, and his companions continue on to Rohan, to warn them of Saruman's army and intentions. The King Théoden, after being released from a spell, has his people flee to the walls of Helms Deep for safety from the orc army. As they prepare any man or child that can bear arms to fight, Saruman's army approaches Helms Deep. The massive army is too much for the untrained forces of Rohan, and the orc army blows a hole in the supposedly indestructible wall. The women and children flee into the caves, as the remaining forces try and fight off the orcs. When there is only a small group left to fight, Gandalf the White and his forces he recruited come over the hilltop at sunrise to take the orcs by surprise and end the battle.
This film is full of exciting battle scenes, and ones full of emotional turmoil as Frodo fights the urge to give up the burden of the ring, as the eye feels its presence. Another movie that resembles the Lord of the Rings is the Harry Potter series. In both story lines, it is basically good versus evil, with wizards and creatures in a fantasy world, but ultimately run by humans. Both Harry Potter and Frodo are relied upon to carry a burden, while having companions to help along the way. I think the director, Peter Jackson, did a great job using dark lighting in the nighttime battle scene, and just about any time an evil character was in shot. It brought a kind of eeriness to the scenes and brought the evil persona's to life. The angles were well used also, such as in the battle scenes which showcases each character in quick shots, one after another, so as to keep up with the fighting. All in all, the movie tells quite a bit of story with detail and awesome visuals, which keep up with each character's story on the ultimate quest to destroy the ring and defeat Sauron.