Review of the Two Towers from 'The Independent' newspaper ...
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Towering epic proves that a blockbuster can still have human touch
By Anthony Quinn
12 December 2002
The second instalment of /The Lord of The Rings/, director Peter Jackson's adaptation of Tolkien's fantastical epic of good and evil, is darker, richer and precisely one minute longer than last year's hugely acclaimed opening salvo /The Fellowship of The Ring/. And, as the last of the season's Big Three to emerge, /The Two Towers/ will look all the mightier next to Harry Potter's second bout of anodyne wizardry and James Bond's digitised derring-do.
This film has its fair share of computerised pyrotechnics as well, yet it never overshadows the very human story of valour and vulnerability at its core.
Whereas its predecessor loitered over scene-setting and character introductions, the new film plunges us straight to the heart of things.
Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) is struggling across a rugged mountainscape with his trusty hobbit companion Sam (Sean Astin) and the onerous responsibility of the Ring, which, as appointed curator, he must take to Mordor and destroy, thus foiling the dire intentions of Sauron, Lord of all evil.
Meanwhile in Rohan, another kingdom of Middle-earth, a desperate rearguard action is being fought by the heroes from Fellowship, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli the Dwarf (John Rhys-Davies), who must save King Theoden (Bernard Hill) from the frightful ranks of Uruk-hai warriors dispatched by the wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee).
It's hard not to be awed at the sheer scale of/ The Two Towers/. Shooting in Jackson's native New Zealand, the camera sweeps massively over mountain ranges, forests thick with foreboding and valleys bristling with armies on the march; landscapes sprawl in wide perspectives worthy of Casper David Friedrich's romantic 19th-century vistas.
Jackson and his cameraman Andrew Lesnie know how to fill the screen. The script, aiming to match these epic proportions, occasionally strays into the portentous ("Dark have been my dreams of hate"), but if any film can handle a little pomp and majesty, this one can. Images of death abound, from the smoky aftermath of a vicious battle to treacherous marshes where pale-faced corpses float entombed, a reminder that Tolkien was writing /The Lord of The Rings/ while the Nazis were ravaging Eastern Europe.
The film is enhanced by two new characters. While Tolkien tends to be male-dominated Cate Blanchett and Liv Tyler are awarded slender cameos there's at least a gesture towards feisty womanhood in Miranda Otto's role as Theoden's niece and Aragorn's new admirer.
The other, more insidious newcomer is Gollum, a striking CGI-creation who mutters, glowers and generally works himself into a schizoid frenzy as to whether he should harm or help Frodo. His presence lends a psychological edge to a picture that in terms of invention, spectacle and narrative energy is very near the top of this year's heap.