Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Director: Peter Jackson

Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee

The story continues, picking up from the exact point at which the first instalment left off (so you better watch it first to refresh your mind).

Sam and Frodo are making their way through the mountains towards Mordor, and in particular, Mount Doom. The Ring weighs heavier on Frodo, and the power it exerts over the bearer grows stronger. Meanwhile, Aaragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, believing that Merry and Pippin are dead, encounter a figure from the past, and then go on to rally the Rohan people in a final stand against the Urak Hai. Merry and Pippin, meanwhile, have made a rather strange, and ancient, friend, and are busy waging their own battle.

As with Fellowship, some changes have been made to the story in order to make it more cinematic. As a lover of the books (read 9 times and counting...and also read the History of Middle Earth series), you would expect this to disappoint me. In fact, it pleased me more. The books, if adapted directly, would not make great cinema, and after all this is supposed to be the best trilogy of films ever made. The changes still keep in the spirit of the book, but enhance the overall power of the source.

So, story aside, is this as good as the first film? The answer is a resounding YES!!! Initially stunning on first viewing, it is on the repeated viewings that the splendour of the film truly hits you. Much like Empire did for Star Wars, this will grow over time to become the best in the series (unless ROTK can beat it next year). What is so right about this film? Well, a lot really.

The most important aspect of this film was going to be the technical aspects. How to recreate the huge battle at Helm's Deep....quite spectacularly is the simple answer! How to portray the wretched creature known as Gollum....now this is a true marvel. So amazing is the CGI on the character (despite a few times when the eyes seem a bit false), that you begin to feel for him, believe in him, and pity him. Something that Lucas failed to do with a certain Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars! Jackson has made CGI look real, not the usual plastic cartoon mess that other films have given us.

The acting is a bit OTT from time to time, but without turning the film into a pantomime. Sir Ian gives yet another fantastic performance, and the growing friendship between Gimli and Legolas is well portrayed (albeit a bit rushed at first....I sense missing scenes to be released on DVD). Topped off with a dramatic soundtrack, this is pure entertainment.

At 3 hours running time, it may be a bit too long for some people, but trust me when I say that my only gripe is that the film is not long enough! The 3 hours fly by, but the lacking scenes (some obvious to fans of the books) need to be put back in (I heard that the original cut was 4 hours).

This film deserves more than the technical Oscars next year....but won't get them, just as Fellowship didn't.

The only truly MUST SEE event of the year.