| Director |
Peter
Jackson |
| Writer |
Peter
Jackson
Fran Walsh
Philippa Boyens
Stephen Sinclair |
| Stars |
Elijah
Wood
Ian McKellen
Viggo Mortensen
Sean Astin
Bernard Hill
Liv Tyler
Billy Boyd
Dominic Monaghan
Brad Dourif
Orlando Bloom
Christopher Lee
Miranda Otto
John Rhys-Davies
Karl Urban |
| Length |
179
minutes |
| Country |
USA |
| Genres |
Adventure
Fantasy |
|
The
Two Towers is the second part of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings
trilogy, and it tells the story of the ongoing quest to destroy
the powerful magic ring of the evil tyrant Sauron. The Two Towers
picks up the story after the Fellowship split up and went their
separate ways at the end of the first film. There are multiple
story arcs in this movie, as the action focuses on several different
areas. There are no introductions for those unfamiliar with
the characters or story, as the viewer is thrust directly into
the action from the very first scene.
First, there’s Frodo and his companion Sam who are on the way
to Mordor, in the heart of Sauron’s territory, to destroy the
one ring. Since it is a magic ring, it can only be destroyed
in the fires of Mount Doom – a volcano in Mordor in which it
was forged. Frodo and Sam’s story arc finds them attempting
to make their way to Mordor, but they seem to be going in circles.
Enter Gollum, the wretched, snivelling and thoroughly murderous
former owner of the one ring. Frodo and Sam manage to capture
him, and force him to take them to the Black Gate – one of the
fortress entrances to Mordor. Frodo takes pity on Gollum, as
he understands the terrible burden the one ring has on its bearer
– a weight that has twisted Gollum over the five hundred years
it was in his possession.
Gollum is one of the great successes of the film, and has apparently
been tipped to become the first CGI creation to win an Oscar.
Anthony Serkis, who voices Gollum, manages to bring an intriguing
duality to the creature. It would have been so easy to make
him out to be a sly, cunning villain but the character has depth
and you can see the conflict between good and evil within him.
Gollum’s true self has been crushed by the evil the ring has
inflicted upon him. Frodo sees this, and his compassion helps
Gollum to fight the evil side within him. One of the highlights
of the film is Gollum arguing with himself – it is an argument
between his good and bad side, and the good wins out. Refreshed,
Gollum, or Smeagol as he was known before the ring took control
of him, sets out to be as helpful as he can to his new master
- Frodo.
The second story arc follows Aragorn, elf warrior Legolas and
robust dwarf Gimli in their pursuit of the Uruk-hai who captured
Merry and Pippin at the end of the first movie. Their pursuit
takes them through the land of Rohan towards Saruman’s lair
Isengaard. There, they encounter the Riders of Rohan, led by
a proud and noble warrior called Eomer. Eomer has been banished
from the kingdom of Rohan by King Theoden’s duplicitous aide
Grima Wormtongue, who is under the control of bad wizard Saruman.
Eomer tells the trio that his men caught up with a group of
orcs near the mythical forest of Fangorn, and slaughtered them.
Horrified, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli race to the scene and
are dismayed to see a huge pile of dead Uruk-hai stacked up.
They all think the worst until Aragorn finds evidence on the
ground of Merry and Pippin’s escape into the dark forest. They
head into the mysterious and creepy forest in search of the
two lost hobbits. Inside, they meet up with the last person
they would have expected to – Gandalf. The return of Gandalf
is a pivotal moment in the series, as his leadership suddenly
forces the story forward. Gandalf explains that they must travel
immediately to see King Theoden.
Merry and Pippin, having escaped the murderous clutches of the
Uruk-hai, have met a new creature in the depths of the Fangorn
forest – a mythical tree-creature known as Treebeard. Treebeard
is an Ent, and these creatures are known as tree herders - they
look after forests in very much the same way a shepherd looks
after his sheep. The two hobbits try to persuade the ancient
creature to join them in the battle to save Middle Earth from
Sauron. Treebeard decides to call a meeting of the Ents to discuss
the hobbit’s request.
On reaching Edoras, Gandalf and his companions go to see King
Theoden. The King appears as a frail old man whose mind has
been poisoned by the foul magic of Saruman. Gandalf suddenly
reveals himself to be a powerful white wizard, reborn anew after
his battle with the Balrog. With his new powers, he casts Saruman
out from King Theoden's mind. Miraculously, the King's health
and vitality quickly return. Grima Wormtongue is also cast out
of the royal palace and flees back to his master, Saruman. King
Theoden then learns that a fearsome army of Uruk-hai will now
be send from Saruman to destroy his people completely. He decides
to take his people to the ancient stronghold of Helm’s Deep
– a seemingly impenetrable fortress built into the side of a
mountain. When they arrive there, they discover that Saruman
has sent a force of 10,000 Uruk-hai against them. They are vastly
outnumbered, but reinforcements come from an unlikely source
– the elves. The climactic battle is truly something to behold,
over forty minutes of constant epic action in which the good
side are pushed further and further back to the point of defeat.
Meanwhile, the Ents refuse to help in the coming war, and Treebeard
offers to take Merry and Pippin to the borders of the Fangorn
so they can travel back to the Shire. They both realise the
help of the powerful Ents would have been invaluable to the
battle and without them, it would only be a matter of time until
the Shire, along with the rest of Middle Earth, was destroyed
by the evil of Sauron. However, Pippin has a plan – he asks
Treebeard to take them past Isengaard. The ancient ENT agrees,
and is horrified to see that the lush forest that surrounded
Isengaard has been savagely hacked down to make the machinery
of war for Saruman. Treebeard lets out an anguished wail, and
declares war on Isengaard. Supported by an army of Ents, he
destroys Isengaard and lays siege to Saruman’s tower.
Frodo, Sam and Gollum, meanwhile, have been captured by Faramir.
Faramir is the brother of Boromir(Sean Bean’s character from
the first film). He discovers the ring and decides to take the
group to the White City in the realm of Gondor. Frodo protests,
revealing his mission to destroy the ring and how its evil affected
Faramir’s brother. In the ruins of the city of Osgilith, Faramir
sees the truth in Frodo’s words when, taken by the power of
the ring, Frodo tries to give himself to a ringwraith. He is
saved at the last minute by Sam, who he turns on and almost
kills. Realising the terrible power of the ring, Faramir agrees
to let them continue their quest to Mordor to destroy the ring.
On the way, Frodo apologises to Sam as he sees that their friendship
saved him from the awesome power of the ring. Unfortunately,
they have another problem. The evil side of Gollum blames Frodo
for their being captured, and manages to turn the good side
to his foul ways. In unison, the good and bad sides agree to
let ‘her’ deal with the nasty hobbitses.
At Helm’s Deep, defeat is at hand for King Theoden’s people.
Aragorn persuades the King to ride out from the depths of the
fortress with him against the Uruk-hai. On horseback, the warriors
of Rohan are superior to the Uruk-hai, and they force their
way beyond the broken walls into the battle field. They are
still vastly outnumbered, and it’s a matter of time until the
Uruk-hai prevail. Suddenly, Gandalf appears on a nearby hilltop
with Eomer and a vast army of horsemen. They charge into battle,
just as the sun rises on a new day. The Uruk-hai are no match
for this onslaught, and flee back to Isengaard. The first great
battle has been won. Gandalf, however, knows that the victory
will be irrelevant if Frodo fails on his mission to destroy
the ring…
Tolkien purists will undoubtedly not be happy with some of the
elements in the film, like Arwen’s scenes, the omission of the
broken sword forged anew for Aragorn, and absence of the Huorns
who played an important role in the battle of Helm’s Deep too.
Nevertheless, the movie is infinitely better for the inclusion
of the Arwen story if not the other revisions. Another revelation
in the film is the performance of John Rhys-Davies’ character
Gimli, whose humorous antics add levity to what is essentially
a sombre mood. Miranda Otto’s jaded Eowyn is also worthy of
a mention – she plays Eomer’s sister and a shieldmaiden of Rohan.
She pines for Aragorn – a love she fears she cannot have. She
is also desperate to fight alongside the men but is denied time
and again because she is a woman. Believe me, her time will
come…
The only downside is having to wait until Christmas 2003 to
see the final part of the trilogy. If you think The Two Towers
was good, wait until you see The Return of the King - Shelob’s
lair, the siege of the White City and climactic battle in front
of the Black Gate are just a few of the spectacular treats that
await us. I’m sure that if Tolkien was alive today, he would
approve of the cinematic treatment his masterpiece has received.
The Two Towers is quite simply outstanding, and much better
than the first film. |
|
