The Two Towers
is a rare epic full of war, hope, and one man’s journey to
destroy one ring. The film showcases
Jackson’s
beautiful direction, and excellent writing, which works much
better in the second installment than the first.
Cinematographer Andrew Lesnie is able to provide many more
beautiful panoramas of the
New Zealand
landscape, which fill our eyes with amazement. The visual
effects are at the top of their form and never sketchy or look
unfinished, as they did last time. Elijah Wood and Sean Astin
better act this film too, and we can actually feel for their
characters because of it. It is amazing that they shot all
three “Lord of the Rings” films together; The Two
Towers is much better than the solid, but shaky
Fellowship of the Ring.
I am amazed by Peter Jackson
after seeing this installment in the series. The first film
was excellent, but the direction was puzzled in uncertainty,
and the special effects looked like something off of “Barney.”
With a new and darker story,
Jackson
can pose shots that look viciously evil, and maintain a
powerful effect. He is in his prime when the biggest battle of
the film begins, and wee see 11, 000 inhuman soldiers,
perfectly coordinated, marching in giant lines towards a
fearful city of humans. When the fighting begins, everything
looks terrific, and everyone is blocked perfectly. I liked the
contrast of light and dark, and slow and fast in the flick
because the changes were unexpected.
Jackson
utilized the utmost skill to perform these.
Jackson
also wrote the screenplay, with the help of Phillipa Boyans
and Fran Walsh. This adaptation old Tolkien’s mystifying story
is nothing but a tribute to fans of the book. The clever
words, passages, and metaphoric dialogue spray’s from the
actors mouths, as if it had never been written before. The
dialogue is so beautifully phrased that the cast is able to
maintain realistic conversations when speaking it. In the
first film, Wood was stiff in his lines, and never was able to
come out of his shell, but in The Two Towers he
is excellent. Astin is as good as before, and keeps his
character’s quirky comedic relief. These two are not the
highlight of the film, however; a title which goes to the
computer generated masterpiece, Gollum.
Gollum is a stubby little
creature, whose ring was taken by Bilbo, a relation of Frodo.
This is the ring of power the two Hobbits are tying to
destroy. He wants to get his ring back, and follows the two
hobbits (Wood and Astin) on their journey to destroy it to
somehow get it back for himself. As the three journey, we come
across many portraits of the beautiful work that the producer
and directors created. There are many visual enchantments
during the film’s amazing ride of a near three hour duration.
These include: a swamp of souls, talking trees (a.ka. “the
Ents”), and some extremely creative, bloodsucking beasts only
known as “the Wolves of Isengard.” All of these miraculously
stunning looking animals and landmarks are achieved by
computer effects. The visual effects and sound should win
Oscars.
The Two Towers
is an extremely satisfying journey that is extremely
worthwhile. The Fellowship of the Ring was
quality entertainment, but this installment in the series is
the sequel of the year. The special effects, writing,
direction, and production are beautifully done. This is one of
the rare movies, in which everything in it is perfect. I
personally can’t wait for a third movie, and want to see if
the entire trilogy can maintain such a stunning and mystifying
look. The Two Towers is one of the best movies of
the year, if not the best itself.
-Danny, Bucket Reviews