Wonderful Film

Rating: Null/10 (22 December 2002)

It's Christmas time and Peter Jackson has brought us a most wonderful present with the second installment of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Is it as much of a present to fantasy fans as last years Fellowship? Most definitely.
(possible spoilers)
As the first movie ended, the fellowship had been broken into three separate groups. Merry and Pippin had been captured by Uruk-Hai Orcs, Sam and Frodo had continued their journey to Mordor to destroy the ring, and the remaining members; Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn had begun pursuit of the captured hobbits. Pretty exciting way to start a movie if you ask me. The three stories are seamlessly interweaved throughout and the jumping back and forth doesn't harm the continuity of the movie in the slightest.
Sam and Frodo meet up with the most exciting CGI character in years in the presence of Gollum. Gollum is devoted towards retaining his "precious" yet through some coaxing from Frodo his original personality does surface occasionally and aid the hobbits.
Merry and Pippin's story is the slightest part of the movie. They escape from the captors when the fabled Riders of Rohan attack and find themselves saved from further injury by Treebeard the Ent. Fans of the original series will be excited to see the addition of the Ent's to the battles.
The main storyline focuses on the final three. Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn begin their quest for the captured hobbits but find they have lost the trail after the previously mentioned attack. When they meet a "lost" friend, they realize that they must turn their attentions to aiding Theodan, the King of Rohan. The grand moment of the movie centers on the Battle of Helm's Deep as the hero's attempt to defend against an army of 10,000. It was simply speaking, breathtaking.
Peter Jackson ably repeats his success in this movie. It clocks in at just about 3 hours and the time seems to truly fly as you are watching it. There aren't many slow moments at all during the filming and there is definitely the appropriate amount of development throughout.
Even though the films have been shot back to back, it seems that the actors have grown much more comfortable throughout the process. My favorites by far have to be those of Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. Aragorn is the born leader of men and his companions have developed a friendship and rivalry that amuses during the battle sequences. Some of the moves that are done during this almost hour-long scene of carnage are spectacular.
The computer generated Gollum is a wonderful addition and, as voiced/acted by Andy Serkis, is almost as believable as the others. The addition of Brad Dourif (the voice of Chucky) as Wormtongue is perfect. He slimes his way through all his scenes in a most disturbing manner. My only complaint casting wise is with Elijah Wood. He is doing a fine job as Frodo but for my tastes would have been better cast as an elf.
It has been a year since I read this chapter in the story and I don't remember it perfectly. I know this was a relatively well done adaptation which stands on it's own as a truly entertaining piece of filmmaking.