The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers starts and ends with darkness. That pretty much sums up the theme of this film, which goes to much darker places than The Fellowship of the Ring. The opening scenes set the tone right away, hinting at darker forces in the war for Middle-Earth, and the final scenes hint that the worst is yet to come....

Words can't even begin to describe how in love I am with this next chapter in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, this one was one of my favorites to watch while growing up and this one also seems to have some of the best laughs that the trilogy has to offer. The characters, the locations, the story line, the musical scores, the intensity in almost every scene, the magic, the battles both big and small, everything about this next big step in Frodo's journey is so compelling and fantastically made. Peter Jackson is a complete genius! Even the mysteries and questions that come from this one are very intriguing like what really happened to Gandalf after his fall in the mines of Moria and is he ever coming back, is there still hope left for Middle Earth as the One Ring is taken closer to Mordor and Mount Doom, can Frodo and Sam really trust Gollum when they cross paths with him, what will happen next now that the Fellowship of the Ring is divided and split into separate groups, where is the next battle going to take place or even will the Kingdom of Rohan survive when they soon come under the line of fire and also will the memory of Boromir still be kept alive after losing him in part 1 of the trilogy, the list of questions and mysteries continues to go on and it all makes the story even more compelling, captivating, intriguing and fascinating that you can never help just going back for more. If you haven't seen this sequel to the first film yet whether you've seen the first film already or not than you're missing out on something fantastic and completely mesmerizing, my sister and I will continue to watch this film long into our golden years and continue to love and treasure our favorite butt kicking boys and how amazingly they always work together, Legolas still for me and Aragorn still for my sister. Even the actors behind the characters will continue to amaze us forever, from Elijah Wood to Sean Aston to Billy Boyd to Ian Mchellen to Orlando Bloom to Viggo Mortenson to Miranda Otto to Bernard Hill to Christopher Lee to Liv Tyler to John Rhys-Davis the list goes on and on and we are forever impressed by all of them and the hard work they put into these kind of films with Peter Jackson behind the whole wheel. After seeing The Fellowship of the Ring there's no doubt in my mind that you're going to love this sequel and all that it has to offer before the big and astounding conclusion in part 3, can anyone ever stop me from watching this film for the rest of my life no matter how old I get? No, not one and that is the truth for both me, my sister and our family!!!!!

Story: 5/5. We jump straight into the journey and things literally do not slow down for the entire runtime. The stakes are high, the tension rises, and the battles are gripping. The characters as introduced so well in the first instalment are developed even more so here, focusing on their journey and growth now that we know their beginnings. The world is bigger and richer and the impending war feels genuinely grave. The supporting characters are far more involved and impactful here, each having moments which contribute important directions to the overall story. I can't think of anything that I would take away here. Frodo and Sam's relationship rises to moving stakes, too, with both actors giving it their all.

Visuals: 4/5. The spectacle which was not present in the first instalment is all made up for here. The cinematography is incredible from the onset, with set pieces that are just gorgeous to look at. From Gandalf's fall into the water to the rolling hills during horse rides. The colour palette is consistent and the costumes and makeup are all great. There were just some moments with Gollum where the CGI fell into itself quite blatantly and badly, but that should be forgivable for 2002. 

Sound: 5/5. The sound design is incredible and appropriate. The battle sequences had gravity to them. The smaller moments had all of the right detail, like the movements of the Ents. The score was beautiful throughout, down to the closing song. 

14/15: This is a masterwork of fantasy storytelling and I understand the hype after all of these years. Yeah, this is a good time.
This movie picks up a few days after Fellowship, and has three plots. The first focuses on Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) as they continue the quest to Mordor to destroy the One Ring, along the way meeting the creature Gollum (Andy Serkis via motion-capture) and Faramir (David Wenham), captain of Gondor and brother to Boromir. The second story centers on Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) as they join forces with Theoden (Bernard Hill) of Edoras against a massive assault by Saruman (Christopher Lee)'s armies.

The third storyline follows Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) as they meet Treebeard (voiced by John Rhys-Davies) of the Ents to prepare to attack Isengard. All of the main cast members from Fellowship return, and are joined by Miranda Otto as Eowyn, Brad Dourif as Grima Wormtongue, Karl Urban as Eomer, and in the Extended Edition of the film, Sean Bean as Boromir and John Noble as Denethor.

There's no doubt that Andy Serkis steals the show as Gollum in TTT. I haven't seen too much of his motion-capture work, but it's amazing how he so easily brings a computer-generated character to life. I've seen Serkis do interviews, and it would never have occurred to me that he was capable of such a frightening, haunting performance. We feel pity for Gollum for what the Ring has done to him, while at the same time, we fear him for the potential he has to ruin Frodo and Sam's friendship. Speaking of him, the track "Gollum's Song" is worth a listen.

Elijah Wood and Sean Astin prove to be very capable actors as Frodo further grapples with the toll of holding the One Ring and Sam does everything he can to help share the burden with his friend. Speaking of Sam, he goes through a big transformation in this series, and he takes his first big step at the end as he inspires Frodo to keep going despite how hopeless their situation seems. Aragorn's story also takes a big step forward as he becomes more accepting of his destiny to lead the race of Men and unite Middle-Earth.

For me, the least interesting part of the film would be Pippin and Merry's jaunt through the forests of Fangorn, mainly because not a whole lot happens. Basically they escape some orcs, they run through some trees, encounter Treebeard, walk some more, are nearly eaten, walk MORE, then they get to Isengard to destroy it. That's basically the gist of this story. Still, what this story lacks in plot progression it makes up for in fun character beats as Merry and Pippin start to take their mission more seriously and do what they can to stop Sauron's evil. And while the effects/green screen are pretty obvious, Treebeard still entertains.

One thing that must be said for TTT is its role in achieving great strides for future film-making. Gollum was the first character done using performance-capture (mimicking an actor's movements and line-readings for a digital creation), which has led to the kind of fully-realized characters seen in films such as Avatar, the Planet of the Apes films, etc. The other big achievement is in conveying large-scale epic battles. The Battle of Helm's Deep made great strides in building tension and conveying sheer size.

The Two Towers: a worthy sequel to Fellowship that prepares us for the final chapter in the trilogy.