DIRECTOR: Peter Jackson
CAST:
Elijah Wood, Sir Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett,
John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Karl Urban,
Brad Dourif, Andy Serkis
REVIEW:
New Zealand director Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema took a big risk with 2001’s The Fellowship of the Ring
, the first installment of their colossal film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s trilogy The Lord of the Rings. Had this first episode not been
completed, or had it tanked at the box office, Jackson would have been forced to abandon any hopes of bringing the next two, The Two Towers and The Return of the King, to the screen. Fortunately for all involved, not only did The Fellowship of the Ring pay off, it went on to become one of the biggest box office smashes in recent movie history and one of the most acclaimed motion pictures of the year, winning four Academy Awards (though not the coveted Best Picture), and setting a new standard for epic filmmaking. But therein lay a new danger. With the first film being rightfully acclaimed, what if the second didn’t live up to the now high expectations? The first installment was one of the great films of 2001 or any other year, but even the most enthusiastic viewers had room for some doubt. This would not be the first time any of us had seen a magnificent, sublimely enjoyable film followed by an inferior sequel. The Two Towers would also have the challenging position of providing the “middle act”, advancing events from the first movie while leading into the third, incomplete on its own, an unenviable position for a film. This second act of The Lord of the Rings had to be at least on equal standing with the first, or enthusiasm would wane, and all the praise showered on Jackson’s initial accomplishment would lose its luster if he started to look like a one-hit wonder. Thankfully, none of this occurred. If not quite perfect, The Two Towers was more than close enough, on an even more epic scale than The Fellowship of the Ring and even more acclaimed, nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, although it still did not manage to claim that prize.
We pick up exactly where we left off at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin), now separated from the rest of the Fellowship, are continuing their trek toward Mordor, while Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) are pursuing the Uruk-hai who have captured Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd). Frodo’s journey is growing more difficult now that he and Sam are on their own. The young Hobbit was beginning to feel the effects of the ring in the previous installment, and now it is starting to take hold of him, the burden weighing more and more heavily on his body, mind, and soul, and Sam takes a more prominent role as Frodo comes more to need his support. And the two Hobbits are not alone. They are being trailed by the creature Gollum (Andy Serkis), the ring’s longest owner, twisted mentally and physically by its evil, and obsessed with being reunited with his “precious”. Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin escape the Uruk-hai and meet the Ents, walking, ancient trees led by Treebeard (voiced by John Rhys-Davies), who they hope can be persuaded to help in the battle against Sauron. Aragorn and the others, joined again by Gandalf (Ian McKellen) make their way to the human kingdom of Rohan, where King Theoden (Bernard Hill) is a shell of his former self, dominated by the dark influence of Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif), a mole planted by the evil wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee), who, at the bidding of his master Sauron, is preparing for a massive assault on Middle Earth. Other members of the Rohan court include Theoden’s strong-willed niece Eowyn (Miranda Otto), who raises the possibility of a love triangle between she, Aragorn, and Arwen (Liv Tyler), and her brother, the warrior Éomer (Karl Urban), who has been banished by the usurper Wormtongue. Also carrying on the fight against Sauron is Faramir (David Wenham), brother of Sean Bean’s slain Boromir, who shares his interest in the ring.
As epic as The Fellowship of the Ring was, The Two Towers is on a grander scale. While the first film strictly followed the travels of the Fellowship, its members are now divided into three plotlines- Frodo and Sam, Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, and Merry and Pippin- and the scope almost immediately opens up to include the embattled kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor, and the cast of new characters they entail. The tone is also noticeably darker this time around, with even the colors somewhat desaturated. The Fellowship of the Ring was a fantasy adventure; The Two Towers takes a higher-stakes, almost military tone as the war begins between the forces of men and those of Sauron and Saruman- the formidable union of The Two Towers. The human kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor are deliberately reflective of medieval Western Europe, and The Two Towers has been described by some as a war movie- a description which, in the context of the ongoing war in Iraq, troubled some of the cast and crew, including Viggo Mortensen, who showed up to promotional interviews with a handmade “No More Blood For Oil” T-shirt, and Elijah Wood, who spoke out against the film being adopted by “jingoists” as a pro-war movie. Whatever one’s politics, describing The Two Towers as a war movie, or as a “three-hour battle sequence” does a disservice to the epic scope and emotional depth of the entire trilogy. The centerpiece battle sequence is tremendous, but it comes as the climax of the movie, and Jackson and his cast and crew have ensured that in everything from visual effects to character development, there has been no drop-off (in fact, it could be argued that both are stronger than in the first film).
This second installment gives the principal actors a chance to evolve in their roles and add greater layering to their performances. Gollum, who was only glimpsed in the first installment, is a major player here, and Sean Astin’s Sam, Billy Boyd’s Pippin, and Dominic Monaghan’s Merry are all more fleshed-out. Elijah Wood is an increasingly troubled, weary, and vulnerable Frodo, slipping under the influence of the ring and becoming more dependent on the faithful Sam, and Viggo Mortensen brings more dimension to Aragorn as both a courageous warrior and a sensitive lover. The characters are changing over the course of their journeys, and the actors have grown into the roles. Elijah Wood looks and acts more tired and strained than the sheltered Frodo of the first film, and Viggo Mortensen makes Aragorn more of a Knight and a leader than the solitary ranger we first saw him as.
Also outstanding in returning roles are Sir Ian McKellen, who plays Gandalf with greater power and authority now that he has become Gandalf the White, and Sean Astin, who has a more complex role here as Sam hardens into an unflagging defender of the ringbearer and struggles to protect Frodo both from the untrustworthy Gollum and the perils of their journey, but cannot shield him from his heaviest burden- the ring itself. Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan have expanded roles, but John Rhys-Davies seems mostly around for comic relief and Orlando Bloom still doesn’t have too much to do. Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett appear briefly. And despite limited screentime, Christopher Lee dominates his scenes to make the power-hungry Saruman an imposing and sinister villain. A few of the new characters are memorable, especially Miranda Otto, who creates a strong female character who would rather face danger side-by-side with the men than wait at home for their return, Bernard Hill, who brings dignity and pride to the noble but not infallible King Theoden, and Brad Dourif, who is suitably repulsive as Saruman’s agent, the unsubtly named Wormtongue. David Wenham is also quite good as the ambiguous Faramir, but he has a smaller role, and Karl Urban is the least memorable, although he’s not bad either. But the best is Gollum, a computer-animated character whose voice and body language was supplied by British actor Andy Serkis. Not only is Gollum quite possibly the most realistic computer-generated character yet to appear onscreen (he looks better than The Phantom Menace’s Jar Jar), but his interest goes far beyond special effects. Gollum is the trilogy’s most complex character, tortured, scheming, conflicted, seemingly even schizophrenic, but above all obsessed with the ring to the point where he can think of nothing else. The range and depth of the emotions Gollum projects is remarkable. He’s a truly twisted individual, but we get the feeling that there is still some remnant of humanity trapped inside somewhere; as Sam warns the overly trusting Frodo, “he’s a villain”, but he’s much more than that. Gollum often inspires equal parts pity and revulsion, and that’s more to Serkis’ credit than anyone’s; this special effects creation, no matter how technically realistic, would not have succeeded without the actor to bring him to life. Inevitably, the fact that Serkis plays a computer-generated character means that he is likely to go underappreciated, but he is an integral part of the story, and in many ways, his performance is one of the most impressive, upstaging Elijah Wood and Sean Astin and arguably just about everyone else, and all without once showing his own face.
Jackson employs a deft hand in the action sequences, never allowing them to slip into incoherent chaos or losing focus on the characters. The Battle of Helm’s Deep, which occupied only a few pages in Tolkien’s book, is the high point and the climax of the film; the rest of the movie leads inexorably up to it. It’s one of the most tremendous battles ever committed to film, with tens of thousands of Uruk-hai storming the fortified Rohan stronghold. Not only does Jackson render a visually spectacular battle, he keeps one eye on the human dimension, with Aragorn and the others always kept clearly in the center of the action and switching between the carnage outside and the women and children listening anxiously from their underground refuge. This battle is not for glory or power, but for Rohan’s very existence (in a bit of trivia, among the extras providing the refugee women and children are Viggo Mortensen’s son, Peter Jackson’s children, and Elijah Wood’s sister). The ring-wraiths make a reappearance, but they now ride flying dragons instead of horses. This second film contains more significant deviations from the book than the first, but it is hard to criticize any of Jackson’s choices. A few are simply minor chronological shifts, such as Boromir’s death occurring at the end of The Fellowship of the Ring instead of at the beginning of The Two Towers. The Battle of Helm’s Deep is greatly expanded, and while the book’s Faramir is unfailingly pure-hearted and noble, here he shares his brother’s flaw of lusting after the ring until he finally comes to understand and respect both its power and the suffering of Frodo. This makes Faramir a more complex character. Rigid Tolkien devotees may grumble over these and other changes between book and film, but I can’t criticize any of those mentioned above, because, at least for the film version, they work.
But The Two Towers suffers somewhat from the “middle act” syndrome- continuing the story without a beginning or end of its own- and as majestic, sweeping, and often riveting a motion picture as this is, it is not as memorable as either the first or third installment. Aragorn often seems to take over from Frodo as the central character. In The Fellowship of the Ring, it was clear that Frodo was the heart and soul of the story. Here, Frodo and Sam seem relegated to the background while Aragorn defends Middle Earth against Sauron and Saruman’s ravages. Maybe it is just difficult for Frodo and Sam wandering through swamps and marshes on their way toward Mordor to equal- even with the fascinating Gollum- the saga of Aragorn and Gandalf allying themselves with King Theoden and struggling to unite the World of Man against the common enemy, culminating in a massive battle sequence. It’s perhaps just by necessity, but the result is that the Hobbits seem to be playing second fiddle to the humans this time around.
But if The Two Towers is marginally the least of the three Lord of the Rings films, that’s still quite an achievement. This is a majestic, well-acted, sometimes thrilling film. And if you were impressed by this second installment, you hadn’t seen anything yet.
4 STARS
Back To Jester's Movie Reviews