Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Peter Jackson, USa / New Zealand, 2002, 179 minutes

How do you follow one of the most critically well received blockbusters of all time? You increase the scale. After the huge success of Fellowship of the Ring, the pressure was on Peter Jackson to maintain the standard; this time not only the Tolkein purists, but the entire cinema going public was expectant of something great. Fortunately for everyone, another epic masterpiece was laid before us.

Whilst the first film required a large amount of time for exposition, in The Two Towers Jackson decided that if you had been fool enough to miss the first, he wasn't going to wait for you to catch up. Jackson launches straight into the second instalment of Frodo Baggin's quest to destroy the One Ring and the epic War of the Ring.

With the fellowship broken, the plot begins to split into multiple stories - just as the novel does - following our heroes as Frodo and Sam continue to Mordor whilst the rest of the group join the kingdom of Rohan in the first battle of the war. Characters from the first film develop as we follow them through further trials; although a rare criticism could be levelled at the lack of time allowed for the introduction of new characters who are thrown into the plot without as much introduction as we'd like. This isn't a problem for fans of the book but gives people experiencing the plot for the first time a bit of work in the early stages. Of the new characters, the most memorable is Gollum, a stunning and exceptional character, not just as a major step forward in CG from Jar Jar Binks, but also as such an ambivalent character being both hated, pitied and enjoyed in equal measure.

Apparently this is the action film of the trilogy and it certainly delivers with Helm's Deep being one of the most incredible battles committed to film, especially in the fantasy genre. So all there is to do now is reflect on the critical and mass appeal these films have garnered and wait for Return of the King; soon preciousss.

Review by Peter Thompson
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2003