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Reviews - The Two Towers |
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I have watched The Fellowship of the Ring
four times, with the most recent time being three days ago. It is a
movie I have learned to appreciate more and more after each time I watch
it. The movie is flawless. It is a modern day masterpiece. So it was
with great anticipation that I walked in the theatre and waited for The
Two Towers to begin. My initial reaction after seeing the movie was one
of slight disappointment. And judging from the silence in the theatre at
the end of the movie, I would think I was not the only one feeling that
way. Like Fellowship, The Two Towers is a beautiful movie to watch. But
this movie disappointed on two fronts. The character development seemed
to stall and the story seemed to lose the focus of its main goal - the
destruction of the ring.
Firstly, I will touch on the problem I had with the characters in the
movie. Gandalf, who was arguably the best character in FOTR, was barely
in the movie and the times when he was, he was not the same Gandalf. I
realize that the guy had just fallen down a fiery pit and fought a
pissed off dragon, and he is no longer Gandalf the Grey but he is now
Gandalf the White, but regardless, he did not have the same impact in
The Two Towers as he did in FOTR. As for some of the other characters,
including Frodo, Samwise, Aragorn, Legolas, Saruman, these guys were
simply outstanding in FOTR, but perhaps because the Fellowship was
broken and there were too many stories going on at once, so there was no
main focus on any of the characters, these guys did not have the impact
in The Two Towers like they did in Fellowship. Aragorn and Legolas were
still strong, interesting characters but they did not seem to grow in
this movie. It was nice seeing Saruman sweat it a little near the end of
the movie, but once again, he was almost non-existent in the big scheme
of things. And Gimli, well, he seemed to become a character that we
could rely on to deliver punch lines. I mean in the first movie he made
one remark about dwarf-tossing that was a great one-liner but in TTT he
was dropping one liners left right and center. He was like one of those
people, who I'm sure we all know, who says one funny line, everyone
laughs, and then they won't shut the hell up. I personally know at least
two people who are like that. As for the new characters in the movie,
none really added anything to the story or were really given a chance to
add something to the story. The King of Rohan seemed confused and
indecisive. Faramir and Wormtongue had potential but were barely used.
The talking trees were used too much and did not add a whole lot until
the very end of the movie. Gollum was a great work of CGI and probably
the most developed character in the entire movie but was unable to carry
the movie like a Gandalf or an Aragorn are capable of doing. Overall, I
just have to say that while FOTR was largely a character-driven movie,
the characters in TTT either were not given a chance or were unable to
have a significant impact on the entire movie.
As for the story-telling aspect of TTT, like I said earlier, the movie
seemed to lose its focus on what I feel is the main story - the
destruction of the ring. In fact, the ring was barely mentioned in the
movie and while in FOTR, there was always a lingering uneasiness about
the ring, the impact of the ring in The Two Towers was not there.
Instead, TTT chose to focus on war and fighting. The gathering of
Saruman's massive army of warriors and the final battle at Helm's Deep
took up much of the movie. Although it was a great battle, the battle
took away the magic, the fantasy, the emotion that was so predominant in
FOTR. And in the end this lack of magic and lack of emotion were
disappointing to this fan of LOTR.
Despite it's shortcomings, The Two Towers is a must see. If you enjoyed
The Fellowship of the Ring and plan on seeing The Return of the King,
you pretty much have no choice. Just do not go into this movie expecting
to see a better movie than the original installment because it is not
going to happen. Although The Two Towers is an absolute joy to watch and
probably the movie event of the year, in comparison to what we were
treated to one year ago, it is a disappointment. Let's hope the Return
of the King brings joy to our lives one year from now.
  
- 6.5/10
Brendan Cullin - Senior
Editor
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