The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Director: Peter Jackson

Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Viggo Mortensen, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, John Rhys-Davies, Karl Urban, Mirando Otto Hugo, Brad Dourif, Weaving, Liv Tyler, Christopher Lee, Bernard Hill, David Wenham

Writers: J.R.R. Tolkien (novel), Fran Walsh (screenplay), Philippa Boyens (screenplay), Stephen Sinclair (screenplay), Peter Jackson (screenplay)

Synopsis:

After the breaking of the Fellowship, Frodo (Wood) and Sam (Astin) continue on their journey to Mordor, with the assistance of the duplicitous Gollum (Serkis). Aragorn (Mortensen), Legolas (Bloom) and Gimli (Rhys-Davies) pursue a group of Uruk-Hai in an effort to rescue the capured Hobbits, Merry (Monaghan) and Pippin (Boyd) but instead get embroiled in a quest to free Theoden (Hill), King of Rohan from the influence of Saruman (Lee) and his agent Grima (Dourif). Meanwhile Merry and Pippin encounter unlikely allies in the dark Forest of Fangorn.

First Impressions:

After seeing the first installment the previous year, I was more than geared up to return to Middle Earth and once again I wasn't disappointed. While I didn't like this installment as much as the first one, I still found a lot to love. Some of my favorite parts of the novels are the ones that involve the Rohirrim, so I was quite pleased that much of that story remained intact. However, this film contained a lot more deviations from the source material than the previous installment, some of which I wasn't terribly fond of. All in all though, I still loved the movie on first viewing and have watched it countless times since then.

Story/Direction:

"What can Men do against such reckless hate?"

**Note: as before, the version of this film that I watched for this review was the Extended Edition, which I view as the definitive version. **

There are actually three separate stories in this movie due to events that closed the previous film. The first involves Frodo and Sam's journey. In a word, hope is the primary theme to this part of the story. Not only that, but how friendship can help you cling to that hope no matter how desperate things seem. Early in the movie, it's quite clear  that Frodo has resigned himself that his quest will most likely fail and even if it doesn't, he's not likely to return one way or the other. Sam, on the other hand, remains the optimist, positive that they'll make it through this ordeal and be better for it. While Sam's character shows us the best companionship has to offer, the character of Gollum shows us the worst. He is treacherous and only cares about reacquiring the ring. Viewers can see quite quickly how he begins to manipulate Frodo, spelling trouble for down the road. However, it's the relationship between the two Hobbits that drives this particular branch of the story. I think that's one of the reasons why the genre appeals to me so much, because most good fantasy stories include strong friendships. 

The second arm of the story involves the trio of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. It starts out with them trying to save Merry and Pippin from the clutches of the Uruk-Hai but soon shifts direction towards the fate of the Kingdom of Rohan, which culminates in a spectacular battle sequence that dominates the third act of the movie. In my opinion, this section of the story deals with need for good people to do what's necessary to stop evil. The books were written during the rise of fascism in Europe and you can clearly see some parallels between the forces of Saruman and the Third Reich. In addition, the themes of friendship and tolerance are also strong here, particularly between Gimli and Legolas, who start the series disliking each other but who grow to respect and eventually become lifelong friends. 

The last part of the story involves Merry and Pippin as they attempt to find their place in all of this. After escaping from the Uruks, they are placed in the care of Treebeard, the Ent, voiced wonderfully by Rhys-Davies. The theme here is clearly one of environmentalism, which was a subject near and dear to Professor Tolkien's heart. However, like Aragorn and company's story, the two Hobbits also come to realize that they can't just stand on the sidelines while others fight and die to protect their way of life. In my previous viewings, I never really noticed the connecting themes in all three stories but they really stuck out to me while watching it this time around. Big Kudos go to Peter Jackson for seamlessly connecting all three story lines into one well-flowing movie.

Acting:

Just like the last film, this cast is massive and chock-full of terrific performance. Once again, I'll try to highlight some of the standouts. The obvious place to start here is the performance of Andy Serkis as Gollum, which is without a doubt the best performance in the film. This is the film that cemented Serkis as the go-to guy for motion capture/performance capture acting. His ability to play two distinct personalities (Smeagol and Gollum) is nothing short of brilliant. That ability was, of course, highlighted in the scene where both personalities have a conversation with each other. The remarkable thing is that Serkis puts on this unforgettable performance and you never see his face. 

Brad Dourif's turn as Grima Wormtongue is also memorable. Dourif has made a career out of playing creepy, creepy individuals an Wormtongue may be his best. The character is thoroughly repulsive, yet he speaks with such calming tones that it's pretty easy to see why Theoden was taken in by him. Plus, the added character effect of there always being a drop of saliva on his lips really accentuated the vileness of the character.

Finally, I want to touch on David Wenham's performance as Faramir, the late Boromir's brother. I think Wenham does a great job playing a noble character who just wants to make his father proud. My appreciation for his performance should count as double, considering the way the movie portrays this character is one of the changes from the books that I definitely did not like. In the films, Faramir, like his brother, is seduced by the ring and he attempts to take it from Frodo. In the books however, he is much more incorruptible and immediately rejects the ring even going as far to say "I would not take this thing, if it lay by the highway." I understand why Jackson felt the need to make that change, I just don't agree with it. Therefore, Wenham gets bonus points in my book for still making me like the character.

Visual/Special Effects:

Again, like the first film, the special effects and visuals here are fantastic. Starting with the CGI, obviously we have to recognize the achievement that was Gollum. Even nearly 20 years later the character is the gold standard upon which all CGI characters are compared. It's not just Gollum, though, there are other CGI characters and creatures in the movie including the Nazgul's winged mounts, Treebeard and the Wargs. All of them are pretty well realized (although I wasn't a fan of the Wargs' design). However, the success of the CGI in this movie was a bit of a double edged sword because it ushered in an era of, for lack of a better term, overuse of CGI in Hollywood that is still going strong today. I think the reason why it worked so well in this film, is because Jackson only used it when he couldn't make something work practically.

In addition to the great CGI work, I have to again give props to the film's production design as the practical sets looked awesome. How did they top building an entire Hobbit village? Well, they built the entire city of Edoras, the capital of Rohan, on a big hill. The dedication of the filmmakers is terrific when you realize that the only time the city is seen in it's entirety is a few aerial establishing shots, which could have just as easily been done with CGI or a miniature. Additionally, I should give recognition to props department for these movies. The fact that all of the props were made specifically for the movie, really adds to its authenticity. The different architecture and costumes between all of the cultures in the movie make the world seem more realistic.

Score/Music:

Once again Howard Shore hits it out of the park with the movie's score. There isn't much more I can add to this that I didn't already say in my previous review but I would like to mention the theme for Rohan as a particular highlight. I'm not sure what it is about that particular theme (I don't know much about music) but it seems to me to be both melancholy and whimsical at the same time (if that makes any sense). 

Action:

There is a ton of action in this film and all of it is well done. Whether its the fight between Farmir's men and a group of Easterlings or the Warg battle on the way to Helm's Deep, all of the action sequences were well executed. The major set piece, though, is obviously the Battle of Helm's Deep, which occupies a large portion of the latter half of the movie. Much of the battle takes place at night in the rain, despite the darkness Jackson makes sure that the action can be clearly seen. As is the case with many long battles, they can have a tendency to become quite dour but the competition between Gimli and Legolas to see who can kill more Uruks is a pleasant bit of levity. Not to mention, the the battles conclusion is definitely a fist-pump worthy moment. 

On that note, I'd like to touch on a bit of criticism that this film, as well as the next in the series, faced and that is the superhuman agility of Legolas the Elf. while many of the elf's feats are quite silly, I don't mind them all that much. In the books, Elves are portrayed as being exceptionally graceful and agile, more so than humans. All Jackson was trying to do was find different ways to explore that agility. Did he go overboard sometimes? Sure, but not so much that it took me out of the movie.

Final Verdict:

While the film is my least favorite of the trilogy, it's still a pretty great movie and my opinion on it has changed very little after this most recent viewing. In fact, this time around my appreciation for it has actually increased a little bit.