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The Two Towers: The Review

Boba Rhett

By Boba Rhett
in Yoda’s Swamp

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Boba Rhett Newbie

Boba Rhett

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*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? :D) 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? :p

 

Eomer: Played by Karl Urban. Eomer is the brother of Eowyn and the nephew of Theoden. He pleads for his uncle 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. :D 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. :D

 

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. ;)

 

________________________________________________

 

 

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. :p)

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Eldritch Newbie

Eldritch

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One small thing, Rhett. Eomer and Eowyn are Theoden's nephew and niece... not son/daughter. ;)

 

Other than that, I agree with you on all counts! Even though it's not the book word for word (or even as close as FoTR was to the book) it still turned out for the best! Fantastic movie!

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X R Kun Newbie

X R Kun

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OMFG!! I just came home frm seeing it. WOW! Possibly the best movie ive ever seen. And gollum is just fantastic! Andy serkis SHOULD win an award for this. At first i kinda worried PJs gonna screw something up coz he mentioned he will change some of the storylines. But he has done all of us Tolkien fans proud.The ents have the most awesome scene in the movie. ANd Helms Deep! Can u say Greatest Movie Ever Made?

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Hekx Newbie

Hekx

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Saruman didn't get to do a lot in TTT, he just stood around; got hit by Gandalf and erm.. that was it :)

 

Andy Serkis and Brad Dourif played their roles very well :)

I always liked Brad Doruif's work; and I thought playing he acted the evil role well :D

Gollum / Smeagol's madness moments of talking about himself as 'us' was also done well, especially the donald duck-type voice :)

 

TTT = Best movie of 2002. :)

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Kylilin Newbie

Kylilin

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Originally posted by obi-wan13

When I went to see it yesterday, I held in my urine for 2 hours, because I didn't want to miss any of it! :D

 

LOL. I almost pissed in my pants too, I was tempted to do it too. Anyways. The move that Legolas makes to get on that horse was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in a movie. Gollum having a conversation with Smeagol was great. There was a lot more humor in this movie than in Fellowship. And that in no way is a bad thing. I gues because it is darker movie than Fellowship that it needs some humor or the audience would end up seriously depressed by the end of the movie. I give The Two Towers 800 stars and 65,000 thumbs up.

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Elijah Newbie

Elijah

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My reactions to some sceanes:

 

*Gimli looking bad arse as ever*

"Give me your name horse master... And I shall give 'ya mine"

 

*me* "OMG! Gimli OWNZ"

 

*horse dude*

"I'd cutt of your head if it was higher from the ground"

 

*me* "OMG die newb"

 

*Legolas wips out arrow and points it to horsy boys head*

"You'd DIE before your sword fell"

 

*me* "OMG I LUV YEW LEGOLAS!!!!!!!!!!"

 

 

 

Gollum yelling at himself was... funny, sad, cool, scary all rapped into one.

 

other reactions of ZDawg:

 

*Legolas jumps on a shield and rides down the steps shooting people then kicks the shield into an urk*

*me* *Dies*

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Bilbo Skywalker Newbie

Bilbo Skywalker

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and what about the CG on gollum?weta digital OWNS lucasarts. heh. seriously, amazing effects,the emotion expressed was unprecidented in a cg character, i felt genuine sorrow and pity for the character and he provided really funny moments throughout, especially when he argues with sam. the look in his eyes was so realistic whenever he was arguing with himself.

 

 

i love this movie. going again soon. :)

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X R Kun Newbie

X R Kun

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I saw FOTR extended version a day before the movie was released and seeing the movie helps see the flow.

 

Gollum is so real, he makes Jar Jar look like a crayon drawing done by a 2yr old. At the scene where he was gettin all schitzo and talkin to himself, i almost cried seeing him all teary eyed. Kudos to Weta.

 

I liked what theyve done to the Easterlings, they have the best looking set of armor ( although they kinda resemble MiddleEasterns too much but who cares!)

 

I liked the part where Haldir came to helms deep, bringing his elvish posses. kewl.

 

The last part where Sam gave the speech was absolutely fantastic. One might say abit cheesy but it had so much meaning and showing the different events occuring was awe inspiring

 

 

Did u saw the part when the burning ent rushed up to the incoming water to put out the fire? hahaha that was funny

 

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teutonicknight Newbie

teutonicknight

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Originally posted by ZDawg

what he was saying is weta digital is much better than IL or Magic.

And I must agree... Gollum was amazingly animated.

 

I agree too, I understood what he ment, I was merely correcting him

 

and what about the CG on gollum?weta digital OWNS lucasarts.

Yeah, of course it does! Becasue Lucasarts makes games!

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Rogue Nine Newbie

Rogue Nine

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Be ready for spoilers and rants aplenty.

 

 

Ready? Good.

 

 

First off, I agree with what Rhett quite articulately babbled; I think a good part of what he said was right on. I will get to my disagreements shortly. But yeah, the movie is awesome. I loved Legolas and Gimli in this one. One of my big problems with FotR was Peter Jackson not developing their relationship enough. He remedied that in a good way in TTT. Cracking jokes at each other, providing much needed comic relief (especially at Gimli's expense) and kicking major baddie bootay in the process really made me happy. The humor of the movie was right on.

 

Now to the parts where I have problems. Firstly, I really didn't need to see all that much of Arwen in the movie. She's not even mentioned in the book! It's nice you see the whole dilemma thing, but Jackson could have used all that time to insert the THREE WHOLE CHAPTERS he omitted from the end of the book! Where was the march on Isengard? When did Merry and Pippin drink from the river? Where was the whole thing with Saruman and his voice? Where was the Palantir scene with Grima? ARGH. That bothered me. It bothered me a lot. Too much unnecessary Arwen time in place of much needed exposition. Bah.

 

Second, they took quite a number of liberties with their literary licenses. I would've marked them up with points if I could. First there was the whole Arwen thing. Then there was Éomer running off like a shaggy idiot with the Rohirrim when he was fighting alongside Aragorn at Helm's Deep in the book. And they made Gandalf go get him. Peh. There's his character development down the drain. Then there's Haldir showing up at Helm's Deep and getting smacked up by an Uruk-Hai. HALDIR. Don't get me wrong, I love Haldir and wouldn't have minded if he'd shown up at Helm's Deep with a few of his archer buddies to help out. But he brings friggin' legions of archers. That, I dealt with, being they looked so cool. But then he gets KILLED. I wanted to yell and scream and throw a tantrum. You don't go killing one of the coolest elves in the trilogy! He shows up at Lothlorien and guides the Fellowship, then he probably goes off to Valinor and lives a happy, eternal life. He doesn't DIE at Helm's Deep, victim of an Uruk-Hai. No, that was a bad call, having Haldir killed. Another thing that niggled at me was how they characterized Faramir. They made it like he was going after the Ring, when in the book, he specifically asks Frodo and Sam never to speak of the Ring again. Here's a quote from the book.

 

"So it seems," said Faramir, slowly and very softly, with a strange smile. "So that is the answer to all the riddles! The One Ring that was thought to have perished from the world. And Boromir tried to take it by force? And you escaped? And ran all the way - to me! And here in the wild I have you: two halflings, and a host of men at my call, and the Ring of Rings. A pretty stroke of fortune! A chance for Faramir, Captain of Gondor, to show his quality! Ha!" He stood up, very tall and stern, his grey eyes glinting.

 

Okay, so maybe he was tempted just a little by the Ring. But, he goes on to say:

 

"How you have increased my sorrow, you two strange wanderers from a far country, bearing the peril of Men! But you are less jugdes of Men than I of Halflings. We are truth-speakers, we men of Gondor. We boast seldom, and the perform, or die in the attempt. Not if I found it on the highway would I take it I said. Even if I were such as man as to desire this thing, and even though I knew not clearly what this thing was when I spoke, still should I take these words as a vow and be held by them.

 

But I am not such a man. Or I am wise enough to know that there are some perils from which a man must flee. Sit at peace! And be comforted, Samwise. if you seem to have stumbled, think that it was fated to be so. Your heart is shrewd as well as faithful,a nd saw clearer than your eyes. For strange thought it may seem, it was safe to declare this to me. It may even help the master that you love. It shall turn to his good, if it is in my power. So be comforted. But do not even name this thing aloud again. Once is enough."

 

See?

 

Those are all my major problems with the movie, I think. Don't get me wrong, I love the movie and will gladly go see it a bajillion more times in the theaters, but those things just bothered me, that's all.

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X R Kun Newbie

X R Kun

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Arwen was in the book but refrenced in the appendix. I agreed with PJ for bringing in Arwen into the picture. You need to have the pacing in the movie. As for the whole three chapters, it is moved to ROTK which for me, is sensible. Helms Deep and the destruction of Isengarde was enough for the climax. Do you really want to slow the pace down after seeing all that? I think not.

 

And yes, the scene of Merry and Pippin drinking the entdraught was in the movie but was cut out. Thats y the movie seemed a little rush. Watch for it in the extended version DVD.

 

Gandalf actually came with the people from another town under Rohan ( forgot their name, the book is on my desk but its too far for me to reach it) It would further confuse newbies if he were to explain this.

 

Haldir arriving in Helms deep wasnt in the book but it was a welcoming change. But it also bothered me that he got killed there. Im sure PJ knows what hes doing

 

One of the writers did mention changing Faramirs character abit. He said the character would translate well into the film. Sure, Faramir was a noble man who wouldnt touch the ring but to show it the movie would make him dull.

 

I dont wanna sound like a smart ass but im just trying to give u answers to whats bothering u

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wassup Newbie

wassup

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R9, Peter Jackson specifically said that TTT film adaption was going to be the most distinct from Tolkien's masterpieces out of the 3 parts of the Lord of the Rings. Now, I haven't yet seen the movie yet...so I don't know yet exactly what happens.

 

I guess I kinda agree with you that they could have lessened the Elves at Helms Deep, and made it much more of a "man" thing. Then again, during this period is when men starting to become the dominant race in ME, so I think PJ should have portrayed them in the movie as worthy of taking up the task of ruling ME. Again, I have not seen the movie yet, I will judge for myself whether they overdid the Elves or not.

 

As for Faramir, Philippa Boyens, one of the script writers for the "one trilogy to rule them all :D", explained that PJ and the other writers decided to change Faramir's character a bit because they felt in the book he was a bit dull and too "incorruptable" for a man. They wanted him to appear more man-like, more corruptible, more human, and this is why they changed his personality so much. Mind you, Faramir did eventually let Frodo and Sam go, after realizing the neccessity of their quest, and I think eventually, and more in ROTK, we see the Faramir change into someone that is more like the one in the book, which finally leads to Eowyn liking him.

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