Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) by Dan S — 23 Dec 2012

The 'Empire Strikes Back' of the LOTR trilogy, concerning the hobbit Frodo (Elijah Wood) and his quest to return the ring back to where it was forged. As is the case with this trilogy which neither starts out strong (like 'Fellowship' staying too long at The Shire) nor finishes with force (the many drawn out conclusions to 'Return of the King'), Jackson is allowed to pick up from the middle and finish with an open-ended conclusion to this film, which in turn makes this his strongest film yet.

Aragorn's maturing into a king, Gandalf's rock-star return, and Gollum's creepy presence makes this movie a tremendous one that offers a ton of variety in addition to its gorgeous cinematography.