The Two Towers: The Review

[Boba Rhett]

*clears throat*

 

HOLY ******* ****!

 

*regains composure*

 

Heh, sorry about that. I just had to get it out of my system. I'll try to maintain my composure through the rest of this review. THERE WILL BE SPOILERS A PLENTY so if you haven't seen this movie yet, (wtf? ) don't bother reading my little ol' raving fan review any further.

 

*cracks knuckles*

 

_____________________________________________

 

 

 

The Two Towers. Wow. There are quite a few aspects that need to be tackled in a review of this movie. I'm going to deal with specific things in this movie before I get to scenes and things of broader scope.

 

Characters

 

Much has changed since we last saw, "the crew" in Fellowship of the Ring.

 

Aragorn: Played by Viggo Mortensen. I feel that he's done an adequate job at capturing the spirit of Aragorn which Tolkien tried to convey. He has quite a few great scenes in TTT. One that really stands out in my mind is the scene after everyone has thought him dead from falling over a cliff by being dragged by a Warg. He's shown floating down stream where he eventually hits the shore. He's bruised and beaten but he drags himself up and onto a horse.

 

Arwen: Played by Liv Tyler. She still has a decent sized chunk of time in this film. You learn more of the struggles she is dealing with and the heartbreak it is causing her. On one hand, her father who she loves is pleading with her to go with him and the rest of his people, (the elves) because they are all leaving middle earth and he doesn't want her left behind, to linger for all eternity. On the other hand is the love of her life, Aragorn. Who has pleaded with her to go with her own people for he knows that what Elrond said to his daughter is true. One of her scenes, involving her father's speech to her that I mentioned earlier, is actually one of my favorites. (There's like 67 things on that list ) It shows her in a gown and veil, as young looking as ever, standing over the body of her very aged and deceased love. It then fades to her wondering through the woods, all alone. Spectacular.

 

Boromir: He's dead, remember?

 

Eomer: Played by Karl Urban. Eomer is the brother of Eowyn and the son of Theoden. He pleads for his father to fight against the orcs that are destroying his kingdoms villages but he won't. Eomer knows that Wormtongue has corrupted his father. That's why Wormtongue then him banished from the kingdom. Taking matters into his own hands, he gathers those who are loyal, the Riders of Rohan and leads them out to wage war against the attacking orcs and wild men.. He and his men are who saved Merry and Pippin and are those who came to the rescue with Gandalf during Helms Deep.

 

Eowyn: Played by Miranda Otto. She's in a bad situation too. Well, I guess most of the people in LotR are in bad situations but anyway. She desperately wants to do something about the ordeal with her uncle Theoden and what is happening to her people although there is nothing she can do but stand aside. She also has the hots for Aragorn and you can definitely see the affection they almost mutually share for each other in the film.

 

Faramir: Played by David Wenham. He's a man in a very bad situation. Shadowed by his brother, Boromir and obviously not nearly as loved by his father, he tries to do whatever he can to please his father in this movie. Even delivering Frodo and Sam and the Ruling ring to his father. He eventually "gets a grip" and knowing that he must let Frodo continue on his mission, he releases them and the ruling ring, thus sacrificing himself so that they may go on.

 

Frodo Baggins: Played by Elijah Wood. A great performance by Elijah. The fact that the ring is wearing down Frodo's resistance physically and mentally is crystal clear in this film. In one scene he even attacks Sam, (SAM!) and holds his blade, Sting to his throat for a long pause before coming to his senses. Because of his special point of view as to what the ring truly does to you, he pity's Gollum a great deal and even chastises Sam more than once for treating him badly.

 

Gandalf the White: Played by Ian McKellen. He's not even in the movie much but as you would assume, his performance is great. And that scene where he's falling with the balrog while simultaneously fighting it ...wow.

 

Gimli: Played by John Rhys-Davies. Ah yes, the dwarf! He struggles a lot in this movie. We get to see into this lil' guy more so than we did in FoTR. He even delivers quite a few funny comments. I almost got to the point of disliking all the Gimli humor but I still found myself enjoying it all. He really has a hard time keeping up with Legolas and Aragorn as they track Merry and Pippin and is even heard to say, "Breathing...that's the key.." as he pants along. I really enjoyed him in this.

 

Gollum AKA Smeagol/Slinker/Stinker: Played by Andy Serkis. Wow. Just. Wow. By far the best looking digital character ever conceived by man kind. This little guy delivered some of the best performances in TTT. And that truly is saying something. All throughout the film he's fighting an inner battle with his alternate personality which made for some truly gripping scenes. Very emotional. I wish so very much that Andy will get some sort of award for his performance. I can't tell you how great he was.

 

Gríma Wormtongue: Played by Brad Dourif. Not very much dialogue but what he does say is great. He's the servant of Saruman, helping him corrupt King Theoden and he wants into Eowyn's pants in a bad bad way. Nuff said.

 

Haldir: Played by Craig Parker. Sadly, his Elven character got most of his great lines cut from FotR but in TTT he gets more time. He leads the group of Elvish reinforcements to Helms Deep to assist. but alas, he is stricken down in battle (axe to the back) and is held in Aragorn's arms as he dies.

 

Legolas: Played by Orlando Bloom. We get to see more sides of this guy as well. He's taken off the "Vulcan like" mantle in TTT and you even see a bit of humor from him as he greets Aragorn, whom they all took for dead, by simply looking him over and commenting. "You look terrible". It was great. And then there's the contest that he and Gimli have all throughout the battle of Helms Deep. Where they see who can get the most orcs. They simply yell numbers out to each other occasionally. That's cool too.

 

Merry: Played by Dominic Monaghan. He's not in TTT a whole lot but he sure has an impact on the story! He's the one that, "convinces" the Ents to destroy Saruman's hangout. What a spectacular site that is. I doubt any scene in a movie will be quite as grand as that for a while. He spends most of his time in TTT on Treebeard's back.

 

Pippin: Played by Billy Boyd. Like Merry, he spends most of hsi time riding around on Treebeard. He only realizes the true scope of the ordeal when Merry rather bluntly explains to him that they can't go home. Because even if they do, it won't be there for long.

 

Sam: Played By Sean Astin. Good ole Sam. His character is represented very well by Sean. A simple Hobbit who still doesn't quite get the situation they're in - until He's flat on his back with a sword to his throat that's being held there by Frodo. That's when, I think, it really hits him. It's not a game and that they most likely aren't going to get out of this mess. Quite a few people get, "slapped' into reality in TTT.

 

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MOVIE

 

 

Allow me to liken The Two Towers to a ride. You strap yourself in, hold on to your arse and try to absorb all of the information thrown at you in what feels somewhat like a, "best of" reel, because so many important events and details occur in such a short span. I know, I know, "It's already THREE hours, Rhett!". It's just that there's so much to see in this movie, it blows you away. Take any six movies, condense all their great stuff into three hours and it's similar to TTT. It's just amazing.

 

The movie starts with a panning shot over the mountains. Then the camera plunges right into the side of them and where' brought to the standoff on the bridge where we see Gandalf fall to his "demise" with the Balrog only this time the camera follows them fallings and we watch them battle in mid air. In one of the many breath taking scenes in this we see a wide angle shot of them falling, specs in the distance, into one of the vast underground caverns. What a great beginning to a movie.

 

The movie ends with Frodo, Sam and Gollum heading into the secret caverns that will get them into Mordor. What Sam and Frodo don't know is that the truly evil side of Gollum has once again taken hold and has at least talked his other side into going along with him in tricking Frodo and Sam into going through these caves..... Where Shelob lies. Indeed, the beginning of Return of the King will have some quite spectacular scenes of them in the caves. I can barely contain myself!

 

Bottom line, please go see this movie. Even if you didn't like the first one, go see this on just so one day, when your grandchildren ask about it. You can tell them you where there when history was made. This is all so unprecedented. Indeed, this will be one trilogy to rule them all.

 

I'll fill in all the middle stuff tomorrow err... later today. Oh, I'll also talk about the beautiful music, don't expect a copy of the stuff you heard in FotR! I'll also fix my mistakes. (It's 5am and I even accidentally deleted like half of what I wrote so lay off. )

[darthfergie]

AAAAAAAH!!! I shielded my eyes and only read the last two paragraphs...maybe I'll come back and read it again once I've seen it...maybe...

[WolfmanNCSU]

I am going to have to agree with this. I watched last night, and it was a spectacular movie. The battle were fantastic to watch. SIMPLY WONDERFUL. The characters improved so much in the film too. Plus the addition of the comic relef was in all the right times and made the movie really enjoyable.

 

You are so right about Gollum, he is rendered so fantastic. Best digital character I have ever seen.

[Crazy_dog no.3]

Is there more gore and voilence in TTT?

[Fishflesh]

TTT sucks

[Jatt13]

hey, ackbar, if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all! go make a thread about it or something.

 

well, i din't read the review, cause i'm going to see it today! hapy!

[Havoc Stryphe]

Originally posted by NL_Ackbar

TTT sucks

 

And yet another productive post from NL_Ackbar!

 

Your posts of late seem to share the same theme:

• Pointless
  
• Severly Opinionated
  
• Is like that of a Troll's
  
• lack supportive text
  
• Combative and seem to instigate arguements
  

 

Why is that?

[Fishflesh]

he mister

 

i did not mean the two towers

 

but i meant Text Translation Tool

 

 

 

 

this was once again 1 of my inplanted jokes

[ckcsaber]

Good Ackbar. You are damm hillarious:rolleyes:

 

The Two Towers truly was great. Smeagol was great. Helms Deep was great. Legolas was great. Gimli was great (at Helms deep that is) and funny (before and during helms deep). It was great. To conclude. It was great. Go see it ASAP because I give you a ckcsaber guarantee that it was great.

[Sherack Nhar]

You guys forgot to mention the bad points, so as always I'll be the one to bite the bullet and list my gripes with TTT:

 

- Arwen's scenes. Screw that! It broke the pacing (which is otherwise great, better than FOTR). It just didn't have any place in the movie.

 

- Faramir. Ugh. I didn't like the character in the book, but I LOATHE his movie incarnation. Not that the actor didn't do a good job - it's that the script COMPLETELY changed his personality. Only the name remains... He's weak and influenceable, unlike in the book where he's strong and has good leadership.

 

- Gandalf's minimized role. Rhett mentionned it, Gandalf has a MUCH lesser role in TTT compared to FOTR; which is surprising considering how more proeminent he was in the book. Because of that, he is nowhere near as likeable as in FOTR, despite Ian McKellen's great job at portraying him.

 

- Although this is much less important, those who haven't read the books will be a bit more lost than they were after seeing FOTR. For example, the elven cloak trick will be puzzling for those who don't know that Galadriel gave those magic cloaks to the fellowship (it was only shown on the extended DVD). Also, many character could have used a bit more of exposition before getting into the meat of things (ie Théoden, Éomer, Wormtongue).

 

Don't misunderstand me though, I totally LOVED this movie! The review at IGN says there is much less character development in TTT, but I disagree WHOLEHEARTEDLY with that statement. Frodo, Sméagol, and to a lesser extent Gimli and Legolas get PLENTY of development.

[ckcsaber]

Yeah there were bad points. For me it was Gimli. Dont get me wron he was great. But for instance

when he got stuck underneath that beast

and wasn't really doing anything except making the audience laugh (which is not nessecarily a bad thing) I kinda got annoyed. Gimli is a WARRIOR. he doesnt get into those stupid situations while Aragorn and Legolas are out kicking ass. He did make up for it at Helms Deep though.

[Silenthunter]

I just got back from seeing TTT and all I can say is...Oh...My...Gosh...it was so awesome! I'm really glad how they put the "PO-TA-TOE" scene in the movie. In case you didn't know, that scene came right out of the book. When I read it I remember saying "I sure hope they put this in the movie". And they did.

 

I may post more of my review and opinions later...when I catch my breath.

[Sherack Nhar]

Hey SH, you love Faramir don't you? What did you think of the way they butchered his character in the movie?

[duder]

Highs;

 

Gollum, Gollum and Gollum. I don't think I have ever sympathised with a CGI character so emphatically until I met Smeagol and Gollum!!! The scripting was spot on, and the movement of Gollum was exceptional

 

The opening scene. It had to be big with the weight of expectation, and Peter Jackson met the challenge by outstripping anything my imagination could muster, I mean, as if I could have anyway.

 

The mystery of the white wizard. Whilst anyone who has any passing interst in LOTR already knew that Gandalf was still alive, Jackson still managed to crank up the tension by occasionally referring to the white wizard, suggesting Saruman, who turns out to be Gandalf. I've read the books, and knew the story, yet I still gasped when Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli meet him.

 

Gandalf spiriting Saruman out of Theoden. I thought it was superb, although I thought the shot of Saruman was too short, and a longer shot, or more cut aways to Saruman could have increased the tension.

 

The Riders of Rohan and Gandalf galloping down the mountainside at dawn towards the Urak Kai (sp). This moment quite literally made me gasp. My immediate instinct after watching this scene was to plan the next time I could watch the film.

 

The march of the Ents. I was slightly dissapointed that this scene had been changed so much from the book, but the spirit was still there. Watching those tree men hurl those boulders made me physically shudder with excitement. I really felt like a child again.

 

'Don't tell the Elf'. I loved the humour generated through Gimli and Legolas. I was very much looking forward to the 'competition' that they have during the defence of Helms Deep, and it truly did represent the spirit of the book.

 

Finally, the conversation between Sam and Frodo at the end of the film, making self referential remarks about hero worship, folklore and the nature of stories. It was something I vividly remember form the book, and am glad Jackson felt it important enough to add to the film.

 

Lows;

 

Another year until 'The Return of the King'.

[Silenthunter]

Originally posted by Sherack Nhar

Hey SH, you love Faramir don't you? What did you think of the way they butchered his character in the movie?

 

 

Personally I'm pretty disapointed. I see how they could have changed him a little bit from the book to resemble Boromir more, but I think they went a little too far. IMO he was much too...harsh.

[Bob Gnarly]

Originally posted by darthfergie

AAAAAAAH!!! I shielded my eyes and only read the last two paragraphs...maybe I'll come back and read it again once I've seen it...maybe...

 

same here ill read the rest when i see the movie on monday!

[Redwing]

Saw it, LOVED it. Now I hafta make comments -

 

I haven't read the books (won't either, till next year when RotK comes out) but I think I understand why Faramir's character was changed. When I saw the parts with him in it, because of his presence and actions, Frodo and the quest seemed like they were in alot of trouble. The scene with Smeagol/Gollum and Faramir forcing Frodo to decide his fate was superb. Also, I liked his 'change of heart' scene ^.^

 

Smeagol and Gollum - AWESOME. I could tell he was a CG creation, but the excellent performance made it not matter.

 

Gandalf did have a comparatively tiny part in the film, which I won't mind AS LONG AS he gets a big part in RotK.

 

Arwen/Aragorn sequences - SO much better than I expected. ^^;

 

Biggest problem in the movie was, naturally, TIME. Pity. An epic of LotR scale makes a 3 hour movie seem just this side of bursting apart at the seams. (Interestingly, the first hour seemed the most rushed, while in FotR the first hour was the slowest!)

 

I didn't mind Gimli's troubles during the first part of the movie; dwarves like him are severly out of their element in wide open spaces. I probably would have found it sillier if he'd been as effective as say, Legolas.

 

So far as from what I can see, Sam is Frodo's only hope. I bloody well have no idea if Frodo will survive the next movie. I mean, I'm sure the good guys will win and the ring destroyed, but...

 

Frodo, Nazgul and Sam in the city under attack - AWESOME.

 

The impact of the battle of Helm's Deep...especially one of the saddest scenes, when Haldir is fatally wounded by the axe, and you see from his shocked point of view the beautiful, dead elves lying on the ground in their beautiful black armor, their chance at immortality stolen from them...

 

Something I found interesting was that although the Ents looked CG at first glance (with the exception of alot of closeups on Treebeard) their bark bodies do look just like the trees around them. If you pay attention to that fact, it makes it much more disorienting to watch.

[Snowtrooper]

Hi all!!! I saw TTT on 18th Dec and I was the first few in my country to see it!! ( the offical release was 19th ). TTT was rather typical of a LotR movies...

 

IT WAS EPIC! AWESOME! I loved it!!! The Battle of Helm's Deep... WOW! The armor and weapons of the Orcs, Elven Warriors was cool!

However, I didn't understand certain parts though... *I have not read the book yet*

 

1)The scene at Sauron's Black Gate. A human army was marching into Mordor right? Who were they, Sauron's army? They were so organized and they reminded me of Japanese warriors becoz of their appearance!

 

2)Haldir led Elvish reinforcments into Helm's Deep. Did the elves have an alliance with the humans later in Return of the King, or were they just there to assist them in Helm's Deep? Finally, did Elrond leave Middle Earth?

 

TTT was Damn ******* cool, it's a must watch. I give it full marks!!!I only wish that they would make an LotR RTS game, that would be fun!!!

[Boba Rhett]

Oops! I said it was Merry who convinced Treebeard but it was actually Pippin.

 

I just went to see it for the second time last night.

[Fishflesh]

Originally posted by Boba Rhett

I just went to see it for the second time last night.

 

 

 

 

arend you a bit sleepy now?

[Crazy_dog no.3]

Originally posted by Sherack Nhar

- Faramir. Ugh. I didn't like the character in the book, but I LOATHE his movie incarnation. Not that the actor didn't do a good job - it's that the script COMPLETELY changed his personality. Only the name remains... He's weak and influenceable, unlike in the book where he's strong and has good leadership.

 

But he is weak and influencible. From what I understand in the book he did everything his daddy told him, no questions asked. And he is weak; he doesn't burst into tears or anything, but if he was in a modern day school he is the type of person who gets bullied.

[Silenthunter]

Originally posted by Snowtrooper

1)The scene at Sauron's Black Gate. A human army was marching into Mordor right? Who were they, Sauron's army? They were so organized and they reminded me of Japanese warriors becoz of their appearance!

 

 

 

Those are called the Easterlings, who live in the land of Rhûn, East beyond Mordor and Gondor. They have always hated Gondor, so Sauron is calling them to him to help him destroy Gondor. The guys that Faramir's merry men slaughtered were called Southrons. They lived in Harad, which was south of Gondor.

They also hated Gondor, so Saurong...you know.

[Boba Rhett]

I agree with what CD said about Faramir.

[Sherack Nhar]

I do NOT agree with what CD said about Faramir

 

In the movie he tried to take the One Ring and bring it back to Gondor. That didn't happen in the book. That's a HUGE difference! In the book Faramir was strong enough to resist the influence of the Ring by himself, succeeding where his brother Boromir failed. That was his character. And they threw that away

[Crazy_dog no.3]

Everyone has thier moments of greatness.