IMDb top 250: #20
Rating 9/10
Director: Peter Jackson
Writers: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellan, Sean Bean, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Viggo Mortensen, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Astin & John Rhys-Davies
"A red sun rises, blood has been spilled this night."
Part two of The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy continues the story of Frodo Baggins (Wood) and his journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring and defeat Sauron. In the second instalment Frodo and Sam (Astin) trek towards Mordor when they are attacked by the One Rings former owner Gollum (Serkis), after discovering they do not know the way to Mordor they agree to take Gollum along with them as their guide. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli pursue the Uruk-hai in search of their captured friends Pippin and Merry and meet Gandalf The White who takes them to Rohan were King Théoden has been bewitched by Grima Wormtongue and Saruman allowing his Kingdom to be controlled by Sauron. After breaking the spell cast on King Théoden the people of Rohan travel to Helm's Deep to stay safe behind the "impenetrable" walls. However, Saruman send an army of Orcs and Uruk-hai to kill them and thus begins the battle for Helms Deep.
The second movie starts off brilliant and it's straight into the action. There's no delaying but pointlessly recapping on what's previously happened, the adventure just continues. The are some really exciting scenes and moments in The Two Towers however, there are also some quite drawn out, bit boring scenes too. Point in case The Ents; now I understand they're supposed to be old and withered and curmudgeonly but there scenes just seem to go on and on and on, until I get so bored now I want the Orcs to come along and hack them down! There doesn't seem to be any urgency in their scenes and they don't sit well amongst everything else that's going on.
I also have a real issue with Eowyn played by Miranda Otto, I can't put my finger on whether its the character or the actress but she really grates on me. I always hope for an additional scene where Liv Tylers Arwen travels to Rohan and kicks her ass! Alas, this doesn't exist but it should. Hower Ents and Eowyn aside this movie is still superb.
The cast are still on fine form and provide some great performances. It's a real treat to see Gimli and Legolas getting friendly but still bickering like children. There scenes together provide some real laugh out loud moments and you'll be cheering along watching them fight and kill the Orcs and Uruk-hai. Bernard Hill is great as Theoden and the scene were he grieves for his dead son and talks to Gandalf is really lovely and quite sad. Brad Dourif's Grima Wormtongue is a great character and I wish he got more screen time, at least more than the bloody Ents.
The standout though is Gollum, one of, if not the best CGI creature creations ever!! Voiced and played by Andy Serkis he is just a fantastic character. The scenes were Gollum has conversations with his previous self Smeagol, cutting from one shot to another are superb and as hideous as he is you can't help but like him, or is it pity! The CGI for all of the movie is excellent but never more so than on Gollum, it's beautiful work.
The_Lord_of_the_Rings_The_Two_Towers_10.jpg)
For all the boring bits you have to suffer there is an amazing pay off with The Battle for Helms Deep. Those scenes are truly brilliant and still exciting to watch even after so many viewings, they're filled with great one liners from Gimli and Legolas and the fight scenes are well choreographed.
Whilst it doesn't thrill me as much as The Fellowship Of The Ring, mostly because of The Ents, The Two Towers is still a masterclass in fantasy filmmaking.
Part two of The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy continues the story of Frodo Baggins (Wood) and his journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring and defeat Sauron. In the second instalment Frodo and Sam (Astin) trek towards Mordor when they are attacked by the One Rings former owner Gollum (Serkis), after discovering they do not know the way to Mordor they agree to take Gollum along with them as their guide. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli pursue the Uruk-hai in search of their captured friends Pippin and Merry and meet Gandalf The White who takes them to Rohan were King Théoden has been bewitched by Grima Wormtongue and Saruman allowing his Kingdom to be controlled by Sauron. After breaking the spell cast on King Théoden the people of Rohan travel to Helm's Deep to stay safe behind the "impenetrable" walls. However, Saruman send an army of Orcs and Uruk-hai to kill them and thus begins the battle for Helms Deep.
The second movie starts off brilliant and it's straight into the action. There's no delaying but pointlessly recapping on what's previously happened, the adventure just continues. The are some really exciting scenes and moments in The Two Towers however, there are also some quite drawn out, bit boring scenes too. Point in case The Ents; now I understand they're supposed to be old and withered and curmudgeonly but there scenes just seem to go on and on and on, until I get so bored now I want the Orcs to come along and hack them down! There doesn't seem to be any urgency in their scenes and they don't sit well amongst everything else that's going on.
I also have a real issue with Eowyn played by Miranda Otto, I can't put my finger on whether its the character or the actress but she really grates on me. I always hope for an additional scene where Liv Tylers Arwen travels to Rohan and kicks her ass! Alas, this doesn't exist but it should. Hower Ents and Eowyn aside this movie is still superb.
The cast are still on fine form and provide some great performances. It's a real treat to see Gimli and Legolas getting friendly but still bickering like children. There scenes together provide some real laugh out loud moments and you'll be cheering along watching them fight and kill the Orcs and Uruk-hai. Bernard Hill is great as Theoden and the scene were he grieves for his dead son and talks to Gandalf is really lovely and quite sad. Brad Dourif's Grima Wormtongue is a great character and I wish he got more screen time, at least more than the bloody Ents.
The standout though is Gollum, one of, if not the best CGI creature creations ever!! Voiced and played by Andy Serkis he is just a fantastic character. The scenes were Gollum has conversations with his previous self Smeagol, cutting from one shot to another are superb and as hideous as he is you can't help but like him, or is it pity! The CGI for all of the movie is excellent but never more so than on Gollum, it's beautiful work.
The_Lord_of_the_Rings_The_Two_Towers_10.jpg)
For all the boring bits you have to suffer there is an amazing pay off with The Battle for Helms Deep. Those scenes are truly brilliant and still exciting to watch even after so many viewings, they're filled with great one liners from Gimli and Legolas and the fight scenes are well choreographed.
Whilst it doesn't thrill me as much as The Fellowship Of The Ring, mostly because of The Ents, The Two Towers is still a masterclass in fantasy filmmaking.
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