The Lord Of The Rings - The Two Towers DVD > Reviews > More Preciousssssss than the ring itself

Author's product rating:   

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

Advantages:	More Awe - inspiring than the first
Disadvantages:	Misses out some of the book

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Aaaaaages ago (well Christmas 2001) there was a certain movie called The Fellowship of the Ring that I’m sure most of you will all remember that it was actually pretty damned good when it came down to it. But as much as your favourite brooding writer loved the movie, back then I honestly didn’t think I had the talent to do the movie any justice. Now over a year later and a lot more wiser The Two Towers has been released - part 2 in what will eventually be a Lord of the Rings Trilogy, based on the classic books Peter Jackson has taken his time to create his one big wish, a big-screen version of the whole Lord of the Rings saga that does the true scale of the books justice - and after seeing plenty people fall before him like an Uruk-Hai impaled on one Legolas’ arrows, I think, by jove someone’s finally got it.

So a quick idea of what kind of story you can expect for your £4.20 (if you’re in Grimsby - probably more if you’re elsewhere), well with it being a sequel its always best to have an idea of what the storyline is all about - so here we go then:

There’s A Ring, it rules anyone and everyone, but is evil.

In a Great War against Sauron’s Dark Forces Man claims the ring for themselves before it gets lost in the ages of stories.

Gollum aka Smeagol finds it and goes insane.

A Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, finds/nicks it and it eventually falls into the hands of Frodo, his Nephew who with help from Gandalf (a great wizard) finds out the true story behind the ring and sets away to destroy it along with 3 of his friends, Merry, Pippin and Samwise.

Lotsa bad stuff happens on the way (including Saruman, Gandalf’s leader turning his back on the forces of good and creating an unholy allegiance with Sauron) and Gandalf is assumed dead (remember this is the short version!)

Frodo and Samwise are left alone to enter Mordor (think Hell, only worse) and destroy the ring, Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn (An Elf, A Dwarf and a Ranger) go hunting some Orcs and finally Merry Pippin have been abducted by said Orcs.

OK know what happened in The Fellowship of the Ring now?, cool! Lets just say that The Two Towers continues on from there, including a huge battle between Man and Orc/Uruk-Hai (which quite simply rocked, well it would have done even more if they didn’t continually stop to show the Ent’s), the return of Gandalf (definitely not giving owt away there! as its in the Trailers!!), and the full-on appearance of Gollum/Smeagol.

Now I’m not going to go that much further with telling of any of the story-line, mainly because it evolves the story so much and it’d be a crime to the cinema viewing public to say ‘Oh, this happened and it was great, then this happened as well ,and oh you’ve gotta love this part - because that’ll spoil it - people’ll not have anything left to look forward to and this is something that you really need to have with events such as the Lord of the Rings Trilogy of movies.

But I Digress, so lemme tell you about the..............

*Characters*

Most of them you’ll remember from the first movie and let me say that their performances are just as good - so hopefully you’ll forgive me if they’re shorter than the rest.

Frodo Baggins (played by Elijah Wood): Y’know when I heard that Wood had been chosen to play Frodo I shuddered - he was the snot-nosed kid in North (a movie that proves it is possible to both Suck and Blow at the same time) and that didn’t fill me with eager anticipation, but for once I was wrong - he has the innocent-ness down to a tee (heck he almost seems as innocent as yours truly!), whilst still showing the courage that Tolkien portrayed in the book.

So a double thumbs up for him!

Samwise Gamgee (played by Sean Astin): Now then, Gamgee was never a character that I wanted to like, and I still don’t if I was being honest, the characters there and Astin does his piece quite well - but its just not a character I can truly get into.

However the acting is good, Astin has stayed true to the character - he bumbles but in a good way, he’s still loyal to Frodo and he still has that untrusting way inside of him, but when you don’t like a character- well you just don’t like a character.

Gandalf (Played by Sir Ian McKellen): One of 2 characters who were played by people I always dreamed seeing play the part - the other one shall come soon, Gandalf is old, wise but still strong and powerful.

There’s only one person in this world who can play Gandalf - that’s McKellen, he just has the look of Gandalf - and one good thing, he’s not as ‘loved’ by his fellow characters in this movie - there’s no hugging him, no jumping up and down at his arrival, more an inspired awe, he shows his power and the acting is even more powerful - one of the best characters/performances of the movie.

Aragorn (Played by Viggo Mortensen): Still the future king that he is in the Fellowship of the Ring, he’s still the un-official leader of the cast of Lord of the Rings and still showing the strength and valour of the character you all know and love in the book. (I warned you these were going to be short!).

Legolas (Played by Orlando Bloom): Fair and Gentle lover of the land, Bloom has it spot on in playing the Elf, this was always going to be a hard choice - especially with Jackson deciding to eliminate the singing from Lord of the Rings as this is one of the bigger parts of the character of Legolas.

However Bloom comes through this well - having heard his voice off-set I can honestly say that he sounds completely different in the film, making the character of Legolas come alive, even more so with his movements and actions, he just seems to fit in.

Gimli (played by John Rhys-Davies): Haaaaaaaaa!!!!! Um, yeah! he’s more a comedy character in this one, dwarf tossing, being unable to see over the ramparts, and many other short jokes.

But when he’s being serious he’s gruff, strong-willed and determined to keep a high head-count of Orc’s - especially as he’s having a friendly competition with Legolas (note here that this is a good side-story, seeing 2 races unite).

Saruman (played by Christopher Lee): How can anyone who once played Dracula be anything but evil - to be honest he has a bit-part this time, relying more on the history of his character.

But the malicious intent is still always there, he’s just evil to look at and of course, he’s ten times worse than he looks, it’s just that for some reason he’s a bit-parter this time, just occasionally popping up to chant evil.

Gollum/Smeagol (played by Andy Serkis): Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh My Precioussssssssssssss - anyone who watched Fellowship of the Ring will know exactly who I’m talking about. 100% CGI Graphically created - all with the assistance of Serkis’ movements, and voiced by Serkis himself.

Gollum, was always going to be a pitied, loser of a character - but he was also alway’s going to be a hard one to bring onto screen, and in a way I feel they’ve both succeeded and failed - you see, they’ve got the pitifulness down to a tee - however there was one name that constantly came to mind when he came on screen - Jar Jar Binks, he just has that air about him, and well Jar Jar sucked.

But saying that, there is also the schizophrenic side of him, and plenty of crazed madness involved in here as well, add on to that his growing hate-hate relationship with Sam(wise) and there is a good side - to the character, the ranting, the crawling, the talk of Master, and the precious - well he’s been done as well as he could have been.

Theoden (played by Bernard Hill): Starting out as a character who’s old before his time mainly due to the influence of Saruman as he evolves into the Powerful, Ruling King of Rohan - who control’s his people and kingdom with the respect that he’s garnered over his time as ruler - reluctant to enter battle at first, he shows the strength of a leader.

Hill plays the weathered old King well, in the books he always came across to me as a bit pig-headed and stuck in his ways, and I have to say that this comes along quite nicely as the movie goes along, especially when we head to the battle of Helm’s Deep - but it’s just an excellent performance by Hill, and one that at times is breath-taking.

Grima Wormtongue (played by Brad Dourif): Pure evil, from the first time you see him on screen you’re aware that he’s not on our side and Dourif brings this across brilliantly - he’s slimy, creepy and generally the kind of guy you just wouldn’t trust.

Once again, this is a character that has been played perfectly in line with the same character from the book, he just crawls across the screen, cursing anyone who gets in his way - exactly like the Grima I remember from the books.

So all in all, the cast does well - very well, and of course that is what makes the movie, having a great cast who are interested in the story they’re telling.

*Location, Costume and Settings*

Once again New Zealand’s where its all being filmed, and Middle Earth never looked so good - the countryside, the trees, the mountains its all there, and it’s beautiful, it looks so natural and almost as if no scenery creation was involved at all - I mean of course there was - but it’s a good set designer who can make his background look real, and this is pulled off perfectly, nothing seems out of place, and it all looks just right.

Add on-to that that the costume designers have obviously spent a long time making the characters authentic, be it the Armour of the Uruk-Hai, Frodo’s cloak or Grima’s shawl he uses - again nothing looks out of place - even the weaponry, it just seems right again.

*Music and Effects*

Final piece, especially the music - a movie like Lord of the Rings does not need a rock soundtrack, it needs something soft, mellow and at times - spine-tingling, the tune that was played at the end of the Fellowship of the Ring, got me the first time - it got me even more this time when they played it at the start of the Two Towers, it’s just a moving tune.

And Effects, well what can I say - there’s scene’s here which are just as I imagined when I read the books, the battle at Helm’s Deep, the sighting of Gollum in Gondor - they were just perfect to what my imagination expected, and at times literally breath-taking, the first time you see the armies of Orc and Uruk-Hai approaching you suddenly realise just how much work has gone into making this the best 3 hours you’ll have in your life for a long time (well almost the best - there’s someone out there who I’d much prefer to spend 3 hours with, but I’m getting side-tracked here..... eh my ickle perfect sweetie? ;) ).

But one word for the effects is simply - astonishing.

*Overall*

To be honest well it doesn’t follow as closely to the book as the first movie of the trilogy did, there’s some scene’s that aren’t in this movie that are in the book and on a couple of occasions they're quite important to the story, but I get the feeling that Peter Jackson is building up to something quite tremendous in the final part, reading the books, The Two Towers was always my favourite of the three - and The Return of the King (the movie that’s currently locked away awaiting release this Christmas) was my least favourite - so perhaps saving some of The Two Towers for it will be a blessing in disguise.

But it’s good, nay it’s great - if you watch one movie this year, make it The Two Towers - preferably after re-capping on Fellowship of the Ring before you go, because at times you’re going to need it - however, as I’m sure ardent fans of the book shall tell you - the tale has a long way to go yet.