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LOTR: The Two Towers - 12/18/02 - PG-13 - 179m
Elijah Wood
- Frodo
Viggo Mortensen - Aragorn
Andy Serkis - Gollum/Sméagol
Director: Peter Jackson
JEF
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.
Wow! I loved this movie. I went into this movie not expecting it to live
up to the first LOTR movie, and was greatly surprised that it came darn
close to doing just that. Not quite, but real close.
Storyline: I’ll keep this simple as it is a 3-hour
movie, and I could be typing for days trying to explain the storyline…
In the last movie, the fellowship of 9 had been split up. Frodo and Sam
had decided to go their own way, and continue on with their mission to
destroy The Ring at Mordor. The Orcs had captured Merry and Pippin. Aragorn,
Legolas, and Gimli, had made the tough choice to leave Frodo and Sam,
and to attempt to rescue Merry and Pippin from the Orcs. Gandalf had slipped
into a huge ravine and is apparently lost.
Thus the storyline picks up where the first movie ended. Frodo and Sam
continue with their quest to destroy the Ring, with the help of Gollum/Sméagol
as their “guide” to get them into the enemy fortress known
as “Mordor”. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli, start the long journey
to catch up to the horde of Orcs (actually called Uruk-hai). And Merry
and Pippin are on their own adventure trying to keep from being killed
by the Orcs. In Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli’s travels to rescue
Merry and Pippin, they meet up with a band of men soldiers who tell them
of troubles with their King (Théoden, King of Rohan). The people
of Rohan are under threat from a great Orc army, and face utter destruction.
They flee their community, and go to a fortress known as “Helm’s
Deep” a sort of Castle built into the base of a mountain.
I think I’ll stop there, as it starts to get complicated to explain
all the details and subplots.
Ok, I loved the first LOTR movie - possibly my favorite movie of all time.
I think I saw it in the theatre about 3-4 times. I’ve read all the
books in the series by J.R.R. Tolkien. Loved them as well too. I’m
not a die-hard fan, who can speak elvish, or recite the Baggin’s
family tree, but I am a big fan. Where to start…
Cinematography: It was great. The location shots of New Zealand
were incredible. In Tolkien’s books, he treats the location or landscape
as an almost second character in the story. Peter Jackson did a great
job of portraying the beauty of nature in this story.
Music: A great use of music and sound to portray deep feelings.
Sound: Some of the sound effects were awesome. The marching armies
of the Orcs vibrated your seat.
Acting: Fine acting by just about everyone. Frodo portrayed a
darker character. Gollum/Sméagol was incredible. Peter Jackson
added nuances to this character that really expanded what Tolkien created.
Effects: Again Gollum stole the show here. I think he is probably
the best CGI character I’ve ever seen in a movie.
That about covers it. Now, I did find some problems with the movie that
is why I’m still putting it as probably my second all time favorite
movies.
Like Lyn mentioned in his review, some of the action scenes with the battles,
were filmed awkwardly. It was done too fast, and with too much commotion.
I understand why it was filmed this way, but I don’t agree with
it. At times you couldn’t tell what was happening.
The use of new characters was confusing. Who was the son of whom? Who
was whose brother? Who was the king of where? Etc… I had read the
books, so I had some ideas here, but if you have not read the books, this
might be too confusing.
And finally, it was LONG! Three hours is just a long time to sit. Granted
this is a minor point, because you know it’s going to be a long
movie before seeing it, but still. I found myself wanting a small 10-minute
intermission like they used to do. Then I could come back in and soak
up another 2 hours.
All in all, this was a fantastic movie. I love the fantasy genre, and
hopefully Peter Jackson has set the standard now, for all fantasy films
to live up to. I eagerly await the third and final installment coming
next year “The Kings Return”. I will probably be seeing this
movie at least once more in the theatres!
Jef
PS> click here if you are a LOTR fan, for
a small problem I had with what Jackson did to the story. Only someone
who’s read the book would get this.