Doesn't surpass the original, but it's still a great follow-up.

Rating: 10/10 (10 February 2003)

The well-awaited sequel to the original has come and doesn't surpass the original, but it's still a great follow-up. "The Two Towers" picks up where "The Fellowship" left off and the second chapter hardly miss a walloping beat.
Most of the cast returns here with the additions of Miranda Otto, Bernard Hill, and a very slimy Brad Dourif who appear here.
The remaining members of "The Fellowship" have taken different paths since the first one ended and the encounters here are even more hair-raising. Frodo and Sam are heading to Mordor with assistance of the (psychologically and physically warped) creature Gollum while Aragorn, Gimili, and Legolas are searching for Merry and Pippin, who were abducted and wind up running into a few surprises - one being Gandalf, who appears here as "Gandalf the White" instead of Grey and the other is what happened in Rohan.
There's even one subplot where Aragorn (Mortenson) himself is now attracted to a king's daughter (Otto) while he still has the affection for Arwen (Liv Tyler). In a lesser movie, it might be a distraction, but here, it's not.
Like the original, the battle scenes are frightening especially of the last ones that takes a half an hour. That fierce battle reminded of a quote from "Platoon" where a soldier says "The beast is out there and he's hungry tonight." and to me, the fight is like "Platoon" with swords and axes instead of guns and gernades.
"The Two Towers" is strong all-around as the first one was, but since it's the middle chapter. The energy isn't as high here, however; it makes up with the intensity. And maybe this time, the movie might get "Best Picture" at the Oscars.