The Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers DVD > Reviews > A film about Legolas

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Good

Advantages:	Action, adventure and escape
Disadvantages:	Erm .  .  non really

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I finally got to see it!! I went with my family on Boxing day. My Mum, Dad, Aunt, son and I all piled into my Dad's car and drove to the UCI, to see what they managed to put together for the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.

I have read the Hobbit and the full 3 books of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, twice, but it was many years ago now! (about 3!). They aren't easy books to read, but they have you totally engrossed. I read fast and I just couldn't read them quickly enough.

I really enjoyed the Fellowship of the Ring and was impressed with what they put together. Middle Earth was brought to life and all the characters I know and love were there in front of me, exactly as I had imagined!

So, would they do as great a job in the Two Towers?

For those that don't know the story, we follow on from the end of the previous film. The fellowship has separated into 3 groups. Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), two hobbits, have been kidnapped by a band of Orcs. Aragorn the man (Viggo Mortenson), Legolas the Elf (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli the Dwarf (John Rhys-Davies) are pursuing the Orcs in an attempt to rescue Merry and Pippin. Meanwhile, the hobbits Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are continuing their journey to Mordor with the ring.

The story follows the 3 groups as their journey take them deeper into danger:

While Merry and Pippin escape from the Orcs, who are attacked by the horsemen of Rohan, Frodo and Sam meet up with the new character Gollum (Andy Serkis). Gollum was once a man and is obsessed by the ring, which he calls his precious, in a very spooky, creepy voice! Gollum agrees to show them the way to Mordor and during the journey Frodo takes pity on him.

Merry and Pippin escape into the woods, and meet an Ent (a tree herder), who is voiced by John Rhys-Davies. There story revolves around this ancient tribe of creatures who take care of the woods and the trees in them.

Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli travel to Rohan along with the returned Gandalf. This all leads into the amazing battle scenes that make the movie so spectacular!

Director Peter Jackson (The Fellowship of the Ring, Heavenly Creatures) has done an amazing job in bringing Middle Earth to life. You almost recognise the places and you believe the characters.

The battle scenes are incredible! The volume of orcs and soldiers was overwhelming. Your heart sank with the characters, as you saw the incredible amount of orcs waiting to fight. You developed an idea of what it must be like to fight in such a battle and how terrifying it must be. You also understood a little of the amount of organisation and tactics that must go into it.

I especially enjoyed the Ents when they went to war. Incredible effects and I had to stop myself from cheering them on!!

Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd played the lovable Merry and Pippin with such bright bubbly characters! You were always guaranteed a smile and they provided the light relief from the darkness that hangs over the plot.

Elijah Wood (Deep Impact, Radio Flyer) and Sean Astin (Memphis Belle, The Goonies) held the continued story of Frodo and Sam's journey. You found yourself feeling the weight of the ring with Frodo and worrying along with Sam. I remember watching Sean Astin The Goonies and Memphis Belle. This is a very different role for him and he pulls it off excellently.

The exciting new character of the film is Gollum, played by Andy Serkis (Pandemonium, Career Girls), yet we never see his face! Serkis played Gollum in a motion suit. He provided all the movement and voice himself and the final version was added on by the computer. It is incredible. Serkis must have had a few aches and pains after filming all the slouching and crawling. The voice is amazing too. So snake like and yet with a little touch of humanity, enabling you to feel a little compassion for the poor creature.

Viggo Mortenson (A walk on the Moon, Witness), Orlando Bloom (Ali G In da House) and John Rhys-Davies (Sliders, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, The Living Daylights) carried the bulk of the storyline. Their characters were expanded and you began to understand who they were and how they got to where they were in the life.

Gimli was extremely lovable and always raised a smile, while Aragorn was very much the dark, calm man, with lots of inner passions inside. Legolas was not uncovered as much, although we did start to see more of the Elves and their place in the scheme of life in Middle Earth. The sight of the Elf Archers arriving for the battle was very impressive!

Finally there was the amazing Ian McKellan (X-men, Gods and Monsters) as Gandalf. Even at his age he gets to ride a magnificent white horse into battle and looks fabulous! His projected the strength and power of Gandalf in a way only he could.

I didn't really take away any strong memories of the soundtrack, but found that the music fitted the film. It heightened the full experience.

The film was very much a good versus evil film, with good holding their own against horrendous odds. We are shown all the different ways evil can leech into our society and how easy it is to let it. It also shows how difficult it is to stick to what we know is right, but shows that we can all do it.

It is also a classic show of how we can all work together to achieve what seems impossible. The bickering between the different factions and age old rivalries have to be put aside to fight the true enemy.

We see strength, loyalty and compassion all on the back drop of one of the greatest fictional worlds ever dreamed up. I envy Tolkien his great imagination, but am so glad that he had it!

I really enjoyed the film, if you haven't guessed yet! I barely noticed that it was 3 hours long. I found myself wanting to be there, wanting to help all the people involved. I wanted to be on the back of a horse next to Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli as they rode out for the final defence.

The highlights for me were the amazing battle scenes. The one at Helms Deep was incredible and the Ents taking on Saruman (Christopher Lee) was amazing. The incredible bringing to life of Gollum was also an incredible feat and I urge you all to go and see it.

For me the only thing that slightly affected my viewing pleasure was the incredible urge to burst out laughing everytime they said the word 'Mordor'! This is the Fault of French and Saunders. After watching their sketch of Lord of the Rings, everytime I heard the word, I could see Dawn French's face as she took it to extremes, make me giggle like a little girl.

So, my advice is not to watch this comedy sketch until after seeing all 3 films! Good viewing.