Towering above Theatres: The Two Towers

I just saw “The Two Towers”, the second part of the “Lord of the Rings”, in the cinema. I missed opening day due to the sell out, and day two to see it, due to an uninvited guest showing up at my house. So, this, the third day of the film’s release, and after everyone else has seen it, I finally got my chance! What follows is a lengthy summary and review of “The Two Towers”, part two of “The Lord of the Rings”.

WARNING!!!! Do NOT read beyond this point, as this review and summary will reveal EVERYTHING in the PLOT of this MOVIE!!!!!

The Plot.

The Two Towers continues the story of the quest that Frodo the hobbit, and his trusty servant Sam, have of trying to take the one ring of power to the land of Mordor, where it was made, and to destroy it. Basically, we have three story lines that are followed in the movie. One is that of Frodo and Sam, trying to get into Mordor, and followed, and finally helped by Gollum. The second story line is that of Aragorn, Legolas the elf, and Gimli the dwarf, who are following a band of orcs that have kidnapped the hobbits Merry and Pippin, and are taking them to the wizard gone bad, Saruman, of Isengard. The third story line is the attack on the kingdom of Rohan by Saruman’s orcs of Isengard, and the battle of Helm’s Deep. The Two Towers themselves are the tower of Sauron the cruel, Barad-ur, in Mordor, and the tower of Isengard, commanded by Saruman, the wizard, who is plotting with Sauron to dominate all of middle earth.

The lengthy summary.

The movie begins with a wonderful sequence of Gandalf, the wizard, “Gandalf the Grey”, as he fights the Balrog of Mordor, at the Bridge of Khazad-dum. There is a wonderful and exciting battle scene between the two, as they fall into the depths of Moria, Gandalf finally is victorious, yet dies in the process.

The movie then continues with Sam and Frodo, going around in circles in the mountains that surround Mordor. After realizing they are lost, they encounter Gollum, who has been following them, being drawn by the desire for the ring. In a smashing sequence, we get fully introduced to Gollum, and he is such a realistic and living, breathing creature, that he almost steals the show. He tries to get the ring from Frodo by attacking he and Sam, but is subdued at last. Frodo makes him promise, and he speaks his promise on “the precious”, or the ring, that he will help the two travelers find the gates of Mordor. They go through the “dead marshes”, and narrowly escape becoming doomed there. The power of the ring is shown to be affecting Frodo a great deal, and the black riders have returned to look for the ring, this time on winged beasts, like huge dragons crossed with bats. Gollum leads the two to the black gates of Mordor, where they have no chance of entering unseen. Gollum tells them of “another way”, a secret way, into Mordor.

We then switch gears to see Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas running after the band of orcs who have captured Merry and Pippin. The orcs are thoroughly disgusting and cruel, yet tireless in their stamina and running abilities. Their pursuers are a long way behind, and on the trail, with Gimli the dwarf complaining and lagging behind, in comic relief.
We have an aside here that introduces us to Rohan, which is under attack by orcs, and to the elite of Rohan, Theoden the king, who is old and decrepit, his son Theodred, who is dying of a mortal wound in battle with the orcs, Eomer, who is the king’s nephew, and a great warrior, and the beautiful, yet troubled, Eowyn, the king’s niece. We are also introduced to Grima Wormtoungue, who is a secret spy of Saruman’s, and chief counselor to the king, who fills his ears with poisoned words of despair. During these scenes, we get a glimpse of the almost Uriah Heep-like character of Wormtongue, who is scheming to possess the lovely Eowyn as his own, and he manages to banish Eomer from the royal hall of Edoras.

The ring bearer and his companions, traveling through the lands of Ithilien, where Gollum catches a couple of rabbits for the hobbits to eat. They manage to get caught a bit to witness a bit of a battle, between the evil men of Harad, who are coming to Mordor to swell the ranks of Sauron’s soldiers, and a company of men of Gondor, who are captained by Faramir, the brother of Boromir, who was tempted by the ring, and tried to kill Frodo in movie one. Sam is amazed to see two huge war “oliphants”. Gollum disappears as soon as the men are spotted, and Frodo and Sam are captured by Faramir, and his men, and taken to a secluded cave and pool near the great river.

The three runners follow the trail of the orcs, and are discovered by the Riders of Rohan, under Eomer. They have just given battle to, and slaughtered all of the orcs, whom had abducted Merry and Pippin. There is a moment of despair for the three, when they feel that the hobbits were killed along with the orcs, but they discover, due to the abilities of ranger Aragorn, that the two hobbits managed to crawl free of the battle, and flee into Fangorn Forest. It is here that they are pursued by a surviving orc, Grishnakh, and almost killed by him. However, Fangorn himself, nicknamed Treebeard, an “ent”, saves them in the nick of time, and kills the orc. Treebeard is a little concerned that the hobbits are orcs themselves, and brings them to the “white wizard”, for clarification. Since Saruman the white is the only wizard around, and Gandalf the grey is dead, the audience is in suspense as to whom this wizard really is.

The scene shifts again to the three trackers, going into Fangorn forest now, and their encounter with the wizard. In a blinding flash of white light, it is finally revealed that the wizard is Gandalf, now “the white”, returned from the dead, and unlooked for, to help save middle earth.

The four companions now move off to Edoras, the royal house of Rohan, to confer with Theoden. Gandalf manages to cure Theoden, who has been literally possessed by Saruman, and free him from his decrepitude. Grima Wormtoungue is revealed as the traitor and spy that he is, but is spared to run back to Saruman as best he may. We go back and forth for a while with scenes of Saruman, who has now mustered a huge army of orcs, over 10,000 strong, to finally conquer and subdue the kingdom of Rohan. Theoden chooses to take his people to the stronghold of Helm’s Deep, where they will make a last stand. Gandalf goes to find Eomer, and his 2,000 riders, and promises to meet up with them at Helm’s Deep by “dawn of the fifth day, look for me to the east”. Saruman releases his warg riders, orcs riding huge wolves that look like gigantic hyenas, to harry the people on their way to Helm’s Deep. There is a big battle between they and the men of Rohan, as well as Aragorn and his companions. In this battle, Aragorn gets taken over a cliff, and is presumed to be killed.

We switch back to Frodo and Sam, now under the guardianship of Faramir. They manage to capture Gollum, and Faramir learns of the great ring of power, and decides to take the three back to Gondor.

Meanwhile, Theoden and his companions, mostly women and children, make it to Helm’s Deep, and start to shore up the defenses there. Aragorn recovers from his fall, into a river, and his horse wakes him up and brings him to Helm’s Deep. Before he gets there, he witnesses the gigantic army of orcs marching towards Helm’s Deep, and rides to warn Theoden of the approach of this army. Most are near despair here, and the 300 men who will defend Helm’s Deep are mainly too old, or too young. Unlooked for, a company of stout elves from Lothlorien, under the command of Haldir, come to help, and march in before the orcs arrive. They are formidably armed with huge bows and long swords, and golden armor.

Back to Fangorn Forest, the Ents are gathering for an “entmoot”, a gathering of ents, to decide on what to do about this new war of middle earth. They decide, in their long and entlike fashion, that Merry and Pippin are not orcs, but decide not to go to war. It is only when Pippin and Merry persuade Treebeard to go south, to see the destruction of the trees near Isengard, that he and his ents are filled with wrath and vengeance, and unleash war on Isengard and Saruman.

In the meantime, Frodo, Sam, and Gollum are taken the city of Osgiliath, which is under siege by the forces of Sauron. Here, Frodo almost gets caught by a winged “Nazgul”, but is saved at the last minute by Sam. Somehow, Faramir decides to let them go, and continue on their quest.

The Battle of Helm’s Deep is a truly exciting sequence in the film, and makes up the climax of it. The 10,000 orcs hopelessly outnumber the defenders, but the defense is valiant, and holds for a long while, until at last, the orcs manage to breach the defenses of the outer walls of Helm’s Deep, and then to fight their way until the men or Rohan retreat to the keep, and the caves that lie behind it. Haldir, the elf, is killed in this struggle, along with man men and elves. Gimli and Legolas have a contest to see who can kill the most orcs during the fight. Finally, at dawn, the king and Aragorn decide to ride out of the caves, and do battle with the orcs in a hopeless charge. It is at this time that Gandalf arrives with Eomer, and his riders, and they make a great slaughter of the orcs.

Treebeard and his ents defeat the forces of Saruman at Isengard, release the river from behind a huge dam, and besiege Saruman in his tower of Orthanc.

Sam and Frodo are led now by Gollum again, who has his inner conflicts with himself, to find a “secret way” into Mordor. In his inner conflict, Gollum/Smeagol decides not to kill Frodo and Sam himself, but to let “her” do it. The movie ends here with the prospect of more war, and more treachery.

The review.

What I like.

First of all, I want to say that I love this film. I am a dedicated fan of Tolkien and Middle Earth, so it is quite natural that my affinities lie heavily with this film. The particulars of what I like include character development, acting, the storyline and directing, the cinematography, and special effects.

Character development/Acting.

The character development in “The Two Towers” is extremely important. We get a picture of Aragorn in this film, as a decisive and determined character, much more kingly, as it were, than his indecisiveness in the first film. Viggo Mortenstein does a great job as Aragorn, and shows that he can really do a leading man role. Gollum/Smeagol’s character is revealed in full, and completely, in this movie. His evil Gollum side is at odds with the kind and good Smeagol side. Mr. Jackson got this right on the money, as far as Gollum goes, so much so, that I think he steals the show! We continue the character development for all of the players from the first film, especially Frodo and Sam. Frodo is much darker in this movie, becoming corrupted by the ring as he nears Mordor. Sam becomes more three dimensional as a character as well in this movie, as he has to contend with Frodo’s growing anxiety, and strange affinity with Gollum. Sam has some heroic tendencies here as well. Gimli the dwarf continues to grow as well, especially in his “comic relief” aspect. Legolas grows in a similar way. Gandalf’s role in this film is much more brief than in the first one, but his character development grows in a similarly important fashion, in that he is now “the white”, and is the head of the wizard order now. Saruman’s character is shown and coupled with his downfall, hand in glove. The introduction of the new characters, such as Wormtongue, Theoden, Eomer, Eowyn, and Faramir, are similarly important.

The Storyline and Directing.

I love the way Peter Jackson juggles the three storylines, and their subplots, in “The Two Towers”. His direction of the acting, and plots, is great. He does a wonderful job of riveting the audience in the drama and suspense of the plot, leaving us hanging at certain points, and sometimes to the point of despair and hopelessness, in each of the three main story lines. For instance, at one point in the film, it seems that Rohan is doomed to defeat at Helm’s Deep, that the ents won’t help the peoples of middle earth, and that Frodo is doomed to be taken to Minas Tirith in Gondor, and the quest for the ring is at an end.
Peter Jackson does a marvelous job at these, and other points of suspense, in the movie.
If he doesn’t win best director for this juggling act, it will be a shame. The treatment of Gollum is wonderful, especially his inner conflict. The storylines, for the most part, are consistent with the plot in the book.

Cinematography and special effects.

The cinematography and special effects in this movie are simply breath taking! The first scenes of the film will dazzle you, the battle between the Balrog and Gandalf. You not only get to see the confrontation at the Bridge of Khazadum from different angles, you get to see the action of the two falling, and battling with one another, wizard and monster, tooth and nail, fire and flame! The battle scenes between the orcs and men and elves is outstanding, and full of action and spectacular swordplay and arrow action. Most spectacular is the special effects that bring Gollum to life! He is at once loathsome and pitiable, and so very, very, real! In no other recreation, or attempt thereof, have I seen a realistic Gollum that comes to any of the expectations you get from reading Tolkien’s descriptions. The winged “Nazgul” are pretty stupendous, as are the “wargs” that the orcs ride into battle. I also really like the exorcism that Gandalf performs on Theoden, ousting Saruman from his body, as it were. As a “special effect”, I can’t forget the breathtaking scenery of New Zealand!!! The real scenery of New Zealand is wonderful, and the choice for this country for the recreation of Middle Earth cannot be overstated.
The ents are really great, although they are a little spindlier than I thought they would be. Treebeard is great, and the voice of John Rhys-Davis, who plays Gimli, is a wonderful choice.


What I don’t like.

The few things I don’t like have to do with either a very quick treatment of certain issues and scenes, omissions, or a fabrication of the storyline, as it compares to the book on which it is based.

Peter Jackson has taken some liberties with the storyline of J. R. R. Tolkien, as he did in the first film, “The Fellowship of the Ring”. For example, the supposed loss of Aragorn over the cliff is pure fabrication, and never happened in the book. The asides and flashbacks to Arwen and Elrond, and the elves communicating with Aragorn are also inconsistent with the books. Treatment of certain scenes and action from the book are too brief, such as the orcs who have captured Merry and Pippin. They missed a vital link here in the link between “The Two Towers”, that is, the different bands of orcs involved in the abduction are from Mordor and Isengard, and the rivalry issues that enter into it in a smaller, and larger sense, from these two rival powers, both striving for possession of the ring (and not allied, as is implied in the film). The treatment of Faramir as a clone of his brother, who desires to possess the ring for himself is totally inconsistent with the book’s character development of Faramir, who is treated in the book as a wholly noble and honorable character, much like Aragorn himself. Taking Frodo, Sam, and Gollum captive and taking them to Osgiliath is a total fabrication, as is the near miss of the Nazgul catching Frodo there.

However, the things I dislike are few and relatively minor in the grand scheme of the grandeur of the movie. The only other thing to complain about is that the people who have not read the books, and the ones who haven’t seen “The Fellowship of the Ring”, are going to be rather confused when watching this movie, part two of the trilogy. Still, they will be totally entertained on a roller coaster of special effects and 3 hours of movie watching!

All in all, go and see “The Two Towers”, and enjoy it! I plan to go back to see it tomorrow, and probably once again after that (I like to see a movie like this three times usually). The film is magnificent, grandiose, epic, entertaining, and a wonderful way to bring to life the world that J. R. R. Tolkien created. For the most part, it is faithful to the book, with only some minor issues to the dedicated Tolkien fan. It succeeds in all of its aspects, and continues the story of “The Lord of the Rings”, which will finally wrap up next December with the final installment, “The Return of the King”.

--James P. Zaworski

Read my review of the film "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" : http://www.epinions.com/content_50225122948

Update 12/17/03

The extended version of The Two Towers gives an added 43 minutes to the theatrical version and is quite excellent!
I also just now returned from viewing "The Return of the King" in the cinema, and it was outstanding! Here is the link for my review:

http://www.epinions.com/content_122210324100






Recommended: Yes