Review of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) by Johnbobs1 — 20 Jan 2015

The second part of Peter Jackson's Rings trilogy is for me, possibly the best film of the series.

Like the others, it is truly epic in its design and in bringing Tolkien's fantastic legend to life, but this film contains a kind of atmospheric tension (best seen In Sam and Frodo's story) and gritty brutality (in the battle at Helm's Deep) that the other films did not quite possess in such measure.

As in the other films, the settings and scenery of the film are outstanding: from the eerie bleakness of the dead marshes to the wild and windswept hills of the plains of Rohan, this is beautifully filmed stuff.

Much of the acting is also of a very high standard. Ian Mckellen and Christopher Lee fit their roles as wise and mighty wizard (Gandalf) vs evil and corrupted wizard (Saruman) perfectly and Elijah Wood (Frodo) and Sean Astin (Sam) really take their performances to even higher standards in this installment.

I apologise if the following actors escape me here (!) - there are also several fine additions to the cast in this movie and the characters of Theoden, Eowyn and Grima Wormtongue also shine. But perhaps the finest performance comes from Andy Serkis, who plays Gollum. Gollum is of course 100% computer animated, but such is the strength of Serkis' performance and the realism of the animation, that this is definitely the performance of the film.

The battle of Helms Deep is also truly memorable, and the finest battle in the trilogy of films. We see lots of bloody fighting, hear swords clanging, arrows twanging from bows, see ladders assailing the fortress wall and even a huge explosion shake the foundations of the wall apart. Brilliantly done. The only that perhaps betters it are the prodeeding scenes - Saruman addressing his huge army at Isengard, the bleakness of the mood inside Helms Deep, the arrival of the elves and finally the tense wait just before the start of the battle, when we see and hear the huge army of the enemy slowly making it's way towards the gates under darkened skies.

It may be a superb film, but it is not totally without fault. Some characters will tend to irritate Tolkien enthuiasts, particularly Gimli and Legolas, who seem to have been given more trivial roles in this film, especially in the battle scenes. A large chunk of the plot has also changed, or at least been moved in this film as well, and some viewers may find themselves that Sam and Frodo do not get to face Shelob until the final film of the series, rather than in the Two Towers (as they did in the book). But the gripes do not amount to nearly enough to discredit what is an immense achievement and one of the finest fantasy films made in recent years.