Better than the first, cross your fingers for the third.

Rating: 9/10 (22 September 2003)

While some of the battle of Helm's Deep is a little far-fetched, Jackson's second effort in the Lord of the Rings trilogy is full of the stuff that makes a movie great. Rhys-Davies is brilliant as ever as the grumbling, but ever-faithful Gimli. Aragorn is again superbly played. Though I am personally not an Orlando Bloom fan, he's OK in his outing as Legolas. I wag my hand at Wood and Astin, though Astin's ever-innocent portrayal of the loyal Sam is heart-warming and sweet. Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett are fair, Brad Dourif is typecast, and Hugo Weaving, unfortunately, seemed constantly on the verge of a "Mr. Anderson." Andy Serkin, however, was gypped out of an Oscar nod by a technicality. His excellent characterization of the lost soul of Smeagol/Gollum is dead-on and tears at the heart, at times. Sir Ian McKellen is equally powerful, as usual.
Don't get me wrong here, the acting is only the beginning of the brilliance of this movie. The cinematography is excellent, the views lush and gorgeous, and the sets were something straight from Tolkien. Not to mention this film includes one of the greater 5-second scenes in all of cinema - Aragorn entering the palace, slow motion, enormous doors swinging wide. Beautiful. This film flows much more easily than the first. It rivets the audience more and utilizes a broader range of character, imagination, and design than Fellowship. One can only hope that Peter Jackson will stun us again with Return of the King.