The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers: Review

The second instalment in Peter Jackson's epic trilogy, Two Towers continues the strenuous journey of Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) as they trek perilously in an attempt at destroying the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Unlike it's predecessor however, Two Towers features multiple story-lines happening simultaneously. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) are working towards fighting the rapidly growing armies of Saruman (Christopher Lee), who's presence has become even more noticeable due to the constant attacks on civilian encampments by his hand, all culminating to an incredibly entertaining and lengthy battle taking place at Helms Deep. Whilst all of this is taking place, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) escape into the dark forests of Middle Earth and stumble across the Ents; a group of trees that have been given life and now want vengeance for all the damage Saruman has exacted upon their kind. 

Although it sounds like far too many things are taking place for the story to remain cohesive and interesting, it's actually the complete opposite. The main focus still remains on Frodo's task, yet due to the phenomenally long run-time of Two Towers (almost four hours yet again due to the extended edition), all of the other plot-lines are developed to a commendable degree. Many new characters are also introduced and yet again, very few of them are anything less than memorable, which is something incredibly hard to pull off.

Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen)

And of these new introductions, the star of the show for me personally had to be Gollum (Andy Serkis). He featured briefly in Fellowship of the Ring, but in Two Towers Gollum plays a much more prominent role. He guides Frodo and Sam towards their destination, albeit being a little shifty in the process. Almost every single scene featuring Gollum stands out amongst the rest, which is in no way detrimental to the movie. His character is the embodiment of what the One RIng will do to Frodo if he fails to complete his journey, and the constant battle between Smeagol / Gollum is both entertaining and unnerving. 

Gollum (Andy Serkis)

I can't just solely praise the second part in the Lord of the Rings trilogy however. Despite the highs of the movie being incredibly high, such as the battle of Helms Deep, the scenes which are tedious and seem a little too lengthy are even more noticeable. Towards the middle of the film the pace dips far too much, and if it wasn't for the huge battles near the end, I don't know if I would have been able to make it all the way through. Because of these vast, epic fight-scenes however, Two Towers successfully stands side-by-side with it's predecessor, Fellowship of the Ring. 

Verdict
The Two Towers surpasses the first Lord of the Rings movie in both scale and entertainment, and the use of musical score to add depth to the already intense action is even more recognisable than in the first movie. Despite this sequel not personally having a scene as memorable as the Balrog in the first film, it is definitely worth watching, just as long as you set aside an entire day to fit it all in. 

"What are we holding onto, Sam?"

"That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo...and it's worth fighting for."