Disappointing

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2002)

*** WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS ***
I just saw the midnight showing of The Two Towers, and I must say, I was rather disappointed. I really liked Fellowship of the Ring, I gave it a 10/10. And that rating didn't change even after repeated readings of the book. The parts that I thought they messed up were the parts that they deviated from the book, and if I thought they were a minor nuisance in FOTR, man were they huge in TTT. Although I can't speak for those who have never read the books (I've read all three several times, and also other Tolkien works such as "The Silmarillion"), for me at least, it was a poor redesign of the schemes of the book.
TTT deviates from the book in three majors ways. First is the actions and character of Theoden, King of Rohan. Second is the same for Faramir, Captain of Gondor. The third is, pretty much every major detail of the sequence of events between when Wormtongue is cast aside to the end of the movie.
Theoden, in the book, after he is rid of the counsel of Wormtongue, is a brave, courageous King. Instead, in the movie he is belittled to a frightened King who cannot even go to war without constant nudging from Aragorn.
Faramir is a noble man, learned of books and wise, as well as strong in war. He is a character who valiantly and nobly declines to accept the use of the Ring, without some weird plot involving a siege of Osgiliath and a out of context speech by Sam to change his mind. Faramir was one of my favorite characters in the books, but in the movie he is less a man than Boromir. What gives?
And why is it that his army of Riders, six thousand strong in the book, is only a handful in this movie? What's the point? Where did those Elves come from to help defend Helm's Deep? Why do the Ents not rouse, until they are "deceived" by Pippin? And why, why did Frodo have to show the Ring to the Nazgul? What happened to the meeting of the Kings and Saruman?
To me, it seems like these things were changed for the sake of changing them. To me, they ruin the character relationships that are developed and the plot that is given by Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings is a tale of many heroes, gathered together in Courage and Strength even under despair. Yet the movie seems to put all the burden on Aragorn, Gandalf, Frodo, and Sam, and leave everyone else as puppets of their situation. In many ways, the Lord of the Rings is a tale of the power of the Gift of Men: That they CAN change the Music of the Ainur, that they CAN shape their fate. In that way, I would say that the added scenes involving Elrond and Arwen were good; They deal more directly with this topic than any in the book. But every other scene that was modified seems to destroy the basic fabric that shapes this world for the sake of making the movie maybe just a little bit more exciting for the uneducated.
After all this, it is still a well made movie with great Cinematography and great actions scenes. The acting is well done, and there are many wonderful scenes. However, as someone who loves the books and feels that it is better, I can't give this movie higher than 8 out of 10, simply because I feel that the magic of the world of Middle-Earth was not well presented.