The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
| Action,Adventure,Fantasy
USA / English
"A New Power Is Rising. " Frodo and Sam continue on to Mordor in their mission to destroy the One Ring. Whilst their former companions make new allies and launch an assault on Isengard.
|
The final hour of The Two Towers is grand, terrifying, and epic on a biblical level.
The opening scene of The Two Towers provides an outstanding, yet very
brief,
taste of action, cinematography, and special effects, only to be matched
(and far surpassed) in the final hour of the film. The stunning events of
the third hour of The Two Towers are undoubtedly the centerpiece of the
film, and while the first two hours serve finely as story development,
they
primarily build anticipation for the final hour, which mostly depicts the
battle of Helm's Deep. More than anything else, the first two hours
merely
tease and torment the patient audience. It's a shame that such a gap has
to
exist between the first minute and the final hour, but I take no
reservations in saying that despite how you feel about the first two
hours
of the film, the final hour will make the wait entirely worth its
while.
As stated, the road to the battle of Helm's Deep can be enormously long
and
painful for any viewer aware of what breathtaking scenes await towards
the
end of the film. Perhaps The Two Towers' biggest fault is in its own
accomplishments; the first two thirds of the film are well shot, well
paced,
and they necessarily and adequately progress the storyline, but when
compared to the spectacular final hour, the first two hours seem
uneventful
and insignificant. However, to be fair, I feel that it's simply
impossible
to create two hours of film that could appropriately lead into the battle
of
Helm's Deep. It's difficult to comprehend how such scenes came to exist
in
the rather short amount of time Peter Jackson has had to create six hours
(so far) of finished film. The battle of Helm's Deep is simply unreal;
it's
unlike any event that has come to pass since fantasy films gained, and
regained, popularity.
As assumed, The Two Towers begins where The Fellowship of the Ring ended.
The majority of the film follows four separate groups and their story
lines:
Frodo and Sam; Aragorn and Legolas, Merry and Pippin, and Saruman and his
army. The performances live well up to the standards of the first film,
with
a particularly notable performance from Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn, whose
role is significantly larger in The Two Towers. Aragorn satisfies a
thirst
for someone to root for, a thirst that was left partly unquenched in
Fellowship. It's much easier to root for Aragorn than it is for Frodo;
Aragorn has many more qualities of a leading man, a soldier, and a hero.
More than once did the audience, filled mostly with academy voters,
applaud
the heroics of Aragorn. Gollum also shines in a much-welcomed large role,
due to extremely realistic computer animation, and a fine performance
from
Andy Serkis, upon which the animation was modeled. In Fellowship, it was
appropriate to consider Gollum one of the many great 'features' of the
film.
However, here he is more of a leading character and a 'star,' and his
convincing dual-personality, stabbing voice, and well-choreographed body
movements make him consistently eye-grabbing and the center of focus of
nearly every scene in which he appears.
As was The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers is a visual delight.
Those
who have seen Fellowship are no doubt familiar with the beauty of the
landscapes of New Zealand. The cinematography is, again, one of the best
aspects of the film. The swooshing camera movements that follow the
armies
and horsemen throughout the fields are extremely satisfying in this
post-Matrix era. The shots of the ascending enemy-laden ladders in the
battle of Helm's Deep are terrifying and chillingly gorgeous all at once.
The visual effects take an appropriate leap forward from those of the
first
film. While the visual effects in Fellowship were outstanding, the battle
of
Helm's Deep provides for the best application of CGI since the rippling
waves of The Matrix's 'Bullet Time.' The battle of Helm's Deep features
absolutely awe-inspiring and seamless integration of acting, stunts, and
computer animation. Each orc seems to have its own personality,
demonstrated
in its movements and visual features. The masses of armies fight with
strategy and true character, which I imagine is much harder to accomplish
than animating thousands of identical clone troopers. The only problem I
have with the visual department is the look of Gimli, the Treebeard.
Gimli's
visual features seem a bit childish and uninspired, inconsistent with the
standards set by the rest of the film. But again, there is simply nothing
that compares to the battle of Helm's Deep. George Lucas and the
Wachowski
brothers certainly have not created anything that approaches the
grandness
and magnificence of The Two Towers' final hour, and I doubt they will do
so
anytime soon.
In The Fellowship of the Ring, I had a few minor problems with Howard
Shore's score. While I thought it was gorgeous and it established several
very memorable themes, I don't think it handled the sentimental scenes
(opening in the Shire, Gandalf's passing) properly. I thought it caved in
to
the melodrama a bit too much, resembling the emotions from James Horner's
Titanic. However, I believe that The Two Towers requires the type of
score
which Howard Shore accomplishes best: dark, continuous, and unrelenting,
as
demonstrated in Se7en and Silence of the Lambs. The theme used in many of
the action scenes in Fellowship (low brass, six notes repeated with a
rest
in between) is much more present in The Two Towers, appropriately. A
brand
new theme is also unveiled, the theme for Rohan, a prominent kingdom in
Middle Earth. Rohan's theme is played more often than any other melody in
the film, underscoring most of the memorable and heroic scenes with great
effect. Howard Shore undeniably exhibits his skills as an 'A-list'
composer,
and with a possible double Oscar nomination this year for The Two Towers
and
Gangs of New York, he could get propelled to the very top of the
'A-list,'
right beside John Williams and Hans Zimmer in terms of
demand.
If not the picture itself, there should be a way to recognize and award
the
battle of Helm's Deep. The battle sequence alone represents successful
filmmaking in its highest form. The choreography of the battle, the
visual
effects, the pacing, acting, cinematography, and music, all work together
in
perfection to achieve grand filmmaking which is as entertaining and
enjoyable as film can be. For this very reason, no one, whether a fan of
Fellowship or not, should miss The Two Towers.
