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

New Line Cinema Presents
A film by Peter Jackson
Screenwriters: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair, Peter Jackson
Running Time: 3hrs

First and foremost, if you are planning to watch this just because you heard good vibes about the first movie, forget it. You have to watch The Fellowship of The Ring first…..

Finally, after full year of wait, Middle-Earth has returned! I am still on the last few pages of the book but decided that it was pointless to continue now that it has embraced the silver screen. The temptation and anticipation was simply too great to bear!

Director Peter Jackson (Dead Alive, Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners), returns with his dedicated team of film crew and cast to bring on screen the 2nd installment of the all famous Lord of the Rings trilogy. In agreement with some reviews that I have read so far, the middle installment of any trilogy is probably the most difficult to translate onto screen. It is never easy to make a film that offers no beginning, nor ending. This is the so called 'middle story' syndrome, where emotions are normally depressed and hope left only to glimmer.

Few have pulled it off remarkably well; Godfather Pt.II and The Empire Strikes Back are the only ones that come to mind in this respect. They are both darker and mood-esque compared to their predecessors and successors; The Two Towers is no different.

The Two Towers continues where the Fellowship last left us…...with Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) continuing their long arduous journey to Mount Doom in the land Mordor, and Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) in hot pursuit of the Uruk-Hai (Saruman's bunch of super-Orcs) with the hope of saving Merry (Dominic Monaghan
) and Pippin (Billy Boyd). Both journeys, separate in both the geographic sense and purpose are well paced and spaced. Frodo begins to feel the weight of The One Ring as it tries to control him, constantly trying to get back to its master. If not for Sam, the ring would have revealed itself to ever-searching Ringwraiths as Frodo grows wearier with every step closer to Mordor.

They are aided by Gollum (Andy Serkis), the creature whose obsession with the Ring of Power had a stranglehold on his mind. Gollum is probably one of the best CGI represented characters ever to brace the silver screen….hideous and wretched in nature, his constant internal struggle between what's left of his humanity and the obsession for the ring gives his on-screen persona surprising depth, deserving empathy. Audiences who are taken aback by his appearance and nature will soon find themselves leaning towards his pitiful existence as the story moves along.

Further up north, the other two Hobbits managed to escape the Orcs and befriends Treebeard (voiced by John Rhys-Davies), an Ent. Ents are ancient walking, talking trees….though a little slow in their actions (what can they do? They are plants!), nevertheless they are huge majestic creatures with noble hearts and best of intentions. The journey of Aragon, Legolas and Gimli unified them with Gandalf (Ian Mckellen) the White. His battle and eventual triumph over the fiery Balrog while spiralling down the Abyss of Moria turned him 'white'. He is now back, more powerful than ever. Together, they team up with the Riders of Rohan, headed by the ailing king Thoeden (Bernard Hill) to stop Saruman's 10000 strong Uruk-Hai warriors from annihilating the world of men.

The visual centrepiece of the film are the 2 battle scenes (30 odd minutes long); the spectacularly filmed siege of Helm's Deep, the ancient refuge of Rohan and the Ent's attack on Saruman's Tower of Isengard. With scenes combined and interwined, they showcase some of the best fight scenes available on film.

Even in triumph, the future of Middle-Earth looks bleak at best. It hangs flimsily on the neck of poor Frodo and his companion Sam. Ultimately, the battle of good and evil will have to be fought by the most unlikely of creatures; The Hobbit. Even as audiences leave their seats satisfied by the 3 hours of visual spectacle and rousing battle sequences, the sense of dread deepens, but not without a small glimmer of hope.

It is impossible to cramp the entire world of Tolkien into 3 films but Jackson and his team managed to milk the best of them. The end result; a highly respectable screen adaptation doing justice to author, fans and your average movie-goer. I hope their efforts will be rewarded beyond box-office receipts (which most undoubtedly, will be very very good).

Two films on, the Lord of The Rings saga is all looks to be all set to become one of the greatest stories to ever embrace the film world. As the world awaits The Return of The King…..I will be silently, patiently, waiting for the special edition DVD for The Two Towers as well!