Posted on 12/05/2002 1:18:58 AM PST by maquiladora
Whats wrong with Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers?
Well, to quote my 13-year-old nephew, It wasnt long enough!
Its only 2 hours 59 minutes. And thats not enough time to explain why its called The Two Towers. I assume that it is a reference to Saurons tower and Sarumans tower yeah? Is that right? Beats me.
And I dont really care.
The Two Towers proves that the Lord of the Rings series will probably stand as the greatest fantasy film trilogy of all time. Its got all the making-kids-read benefits of Harry Potter, the strong characters of Star Wars and the visual singularity of The Matrix series thats going to play out next year. It has it all.
Writing about this movie right now is a little weird. After all, so many people have read the books that spoilers arent true spoilers. Nonetheless, Im not that interested in taking you through the story thats what the movie is for.
In many ways, The Two Towers is a classic middle movie. It jumps right into major league action from the first frames. And it leaves you ready for the big wrap up. But the idea that it is a middle movie devalues it in a way that is unfair.
As with the first film, a second viewing enhanced the glories of the film and settled my issues with some of the differences from the first film that I wasnt quite as happy about the first time around. For instance, Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett are barely in this film just barely. And I didnt get nearly enough Gandalf for my tastes. Also, the fellowships split at the end of the first film continues here, so instead of having one story, you have three. Yet, on second viewing, it didnt bother me as much.
The upside of the split is that it opens the door to new characters. For me, the greatest invention of The Two Towers is a fully participating Smeagal/Gollum. Like last year, Harry Potter and LOTR put their flags in some similar territory. There was a troll in Potter last year and then the cave troll in Ring blew it out of the water. Likewise, this year we have Dobbie in Chamber of Secrets, a CG character that is truly remarkable. And then you have Smeagal, who blows Dobbie right out of the proverbial water. Smeagal lives and breathes and has hair and skin and slightly over-sized eyes, but damned if you cant imagine a CG human being in a few years that doesnt look like it stepped out of a comic book.
Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin meet up with an anthropomorphized creature who starts as a quiet presence, but who becomes a big part of the films emotional grounding by the end.
And Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli get the lions share of screen time in this film. The fate of human kind is in their hands. Lending them more than a hand are Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto and a wondrously evil Brad Dourif, who slithers through his role as Wormtongue. This trio joins in the defense of Rohan, which leads them to Helms Deep.
There isnt a lot more I really want to say about this film. It is a near-perfect piece of filmmaking. The map is, obviously, strong. And the work from Peter Jackson and his team is not only flawless, it is breaking through new barriers for the second year in a row.
Well talk more about the details as the film gets closer. But Ill leave you with this
The Two Towers will disappoint no one. It is a great ride. And I cant wait though I will have to for Return of the King. You can hear the heart beating already.
This dude's just rubbin' it in, ain't he?! He don't even know what the Two Towers are, but he gets to watch it a coupla weeks before me...Life Ain't Fair!!
Thanks fer the ping, my FRiend...MUD
![]() Ring Ping!! |
I think in the movie, Orthanc and Barad-dur are the Towers. A non-Tolkien-freak is just not going to understand at all about Cirith Ungol. They have enough trouble with the other two.
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