Not the movie it should have been

Rating: 10/10 (20 January 2003)

Sigh. Since I was a kid, I've been waiting for someone to do a really great adaptation of the Lord of the Rings. When Fellowship of the Rings came out last year, I thought "this is it! Finally!" After seeing The Fellowship, I thought I was right...the movie I'd waited for was finally here. So, when I went to see The Two Towers, I was totally shocked and dissapointed to see such a poor adaptation...indeed, save the names of the characters and the places, it has virtually nothing in common with the story JRR Tolkein wrote.
Now, I know that certain liberties have to be taken with a book in order to make it a film...that's part of the territory and I accept it. But the rampant, wholesale changes made to key characters and plot elements in this film seem the work of someone that never even read the books, and has no respect for the story. Major characters were completely and utterly changed...not just little changes, but changes that were core to their development. Faramir, the noble brother of Boromir, is painted as little better than his brother. In fact, the whole capture of Frodo and Sam and the forcing of them to go to Minis Tirith is in direct contrast with his actions in the book. His nobility is gone, and for no discernable reason. The same can be said of King Theoden, who turns out to be an indecisive, weak and fearfull old man. Not so in the books, and again, there seems to be no real reason for the change. Worse still, the ents were changed, only attacking Isengard after being tricked by Merry and Pippin.

These changes to major characters, in my opinion, hurts the story for no apparent gain. Tolkein fans will be dissapointed to see these changes, and will wonder "why" just like I did. The movie is visually stunning, and is entertaining. But it's typical Hollywood, glamor and glitz effects entertainment, with a weak story and less than inspried acting on most parts.
Now, that being said, if there is ever going to be an Oscar given to a digital character, Gollum is that character. The Gollum in the movie is stunning...his debates with himself are the high point of the film, and truly inspired. This fact makes it all the more depressing that the director, who was able to create Gollum in such a convincing way, botched the rest of the film so badly.