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LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE TWO TOWERS
by Peter Sobczynski

December 17, 2003

1/2 (out of 4 stars)

FILM CREDITS: Written by Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Stephen Sinclair & Peter Jackson. Directed by Peter Jackson. Starring Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Christopher Lee and Ian McKellan. PG-13

Reviewing "The Two Towers", the second installment in Peter Jackson’s ambitious attempt to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s "Lord of the Rings" trilogy to the screen, is a lot like trying to review an 800-page novel by reading only pages 300-530. Essentially, Jackson is making one enormous superfilm and this installment is merely the middle portion and that is probably the best way to look at it. As an individual film, however, it is a lavishly produced, frequently dazzling film that nevertheless comes up as slightly disappointing simply because of what it is.

The first film, last year’s "The Fellowship of the Ring" was a triumph that not only set up Tolkien’s sprawling narrative in a way that satisfied both longtime fans and newcomers but did so with astonishing technical expertise-for all intents and purposes, it looked as if there really was a Middle Earth and Jackson was the first person to shoot film there. Next year’s climactic episode, "The Return of the King" promises to tie up all of the various plot threads in one grand conclusion. While that sounds great, it leaves "The Two Towers" with two nearly insurmountable disadvantages. Since we have already seen the world that Jackson and his army of technicians have created, the shock of seeing it on the screen has necessarily dissipated (the same problem that the latest "Harry Potter" film faced.) More importantly, since we know that nothing about the plot is going to be completely resolved until next year, the film is basically three hours of people spinning their wheels. Actually, more like two-and-one-half hours of wheel-spinning and an astounding final battle sequence (the finale at Helms Deep, a battle royale that lives up to its advanced hype.)

Another problem is that while the first film had its enormous cast together for the majority of the story with one goal in mind-to cast the all-powerful ring back into the cursed fires from which it was forged (and just to warn you, if you somehow missed the first film in theaters or on DVD, this installment will be utterly meaningless to you.) This time around, everyone is split up and on separate journeys. Frodo and Sam (Elijah Wood and Sean Astin), who currently hold the ring, continue their quest, accompanied by the fearsome Gollum (Andy Serkis), who once possessed the ring and still craves its power. The heroic trio of Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davis) are trying to find Frodo and become involved in an effort to protect a besieged kingdom from the forces of the mighty Saruman (Christopher Lee.) Ever-irritating hobbits Merry and Pippin (Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd) are wandering around looking for help and are befriended by Treebeards-walking, talking trees that look about as dopey as they sound (they look so goofy that they actually subvert the otherwise realistically conceived world that Jackson has put on screen.) And of course, the heroic Gandalf (Ian McKellan) makes a triumphant return, despite the minor inconvenience of having plunged to his death in the previous film.

Because of all these separate storylines, Jackson is forced to cut back and forth from story to story and as a result, it is impossible to really get involved in anyone’s adventures this time around-characters appear and disappear so abruptly that it feels as if every cast member is making only a cameo appearance. The central character this time around is Aragorn and even his screen time seems truncated-particularly when it involves lost love Arwen (Liv Tyler, who mysteriously gets third billing despite making only a cameo appearance here) and new love Eowyn (Miranda Otto.) As they barely appear, we never get swept up in the tragedy of the former or the romance with the latter-he only seems interested in them because they have similar-sounding names (a tendency of Tolkien’s that makes reviewing these films a chore) and they both look cute while wielding swords.

The most impressive new element in this installment is the completely CGI-created Gollum. Despite existing solely as a series of 1’s and 0’s, he turns in the best performance I have ever seen from a creature developed entirely out of silicon-based technology (yes, better than Jar-Jar, Dobby or Heather Graham) Hell, he even gets the best bit of acting in the film-a funny and terrifying split-personality bit that has more life to it than any of the other performances.

Because it doesn’t work as an individual movie, I can only really recommend the film to people who have already seen the first installment. It is a beautifully produced film that isn’t strong enough as a stand-alone effort to work as anything other than eye candy. When I get a chance to see it in its proper context in another year, it may well reveal more dramatic pull but as of know, it is little more than three hours of running in place.

-- PETER SOBCZYNSKI

Copyright © 2003 Peter Sobczynski
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While the views expressed by Peter Sobczynski do not necessarily reflect the views of Criticdoctor.com, the Critic Doctor will occasionally examine Mr. Sobczynski's film reviews to bring forth an honest examination of those views expressed.