Enter The Two Towers. A film that is both a bit of a step backwards and a massive leap forward in terms of being a masterful film. While the original film succeeded in Character Growth and perfection in storytelling, this film took steps forward in story presentation, visual effects and dramatic undertones. The character growth and ambitious storytelling is still here, it's not as profound as it was in Fellowship. That's not a knock on the film. If anything, I adore this movie even more than I do the first. There is more at stake in this film, there's more intriguing characters and ideas in this film and the threats of the bad guys are amplified to much higher levels than they were in the first film, resulting in a gripping and still wonderous way to continue the story of J.R.R. Tolkein. This is not only my favorite of the trilogy, but it's also one of my all time favorite films, period.
Plot: The Fellowship of the Ring was broken and scattered following the deaths of Gandalf and Boromir, with Frodo and Sam questing to Mordor alone while Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli pursued Saruman's henchmen to rescue Merry and Pippin from them. While on their trail, the trio are swept up in the politicking of the Kingdom of Rohan, which is engulfed in turmoil as King Theoden (Bernard Hill) is under the influence of Saruman's agent Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif) and has lost his son in Orc attacks. The trio nevertheless continues to pursue the missing hobbits until they find themselves in the presence of The White Wizard. Before they could attack, the White Wizard reveals himself as Gandalf, given life again until his task of aiding Frodo's quest comes to an end. With Gandalf at their back, the trio rides for Edoras and frees Theoden from Grima's control and compel him to defend his people from Saurman. Theoden only agrees to ride to the fortress of Helm's Deep to protect the citizens of Rohan, with Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli serving as his advisors. While on the way to the fortress, Theoden's niece, Eowyn (Miranda Otto) becomes smitten with Aragorn.
Frodo and Sam find and ultimately capture the creature Gollum (Andy Serkis) who was following them in the hopes of stealing back the Ring from them. Though Sam mistrusts the creature, Frodo takes pity on him and instead makes him serve as their guide to get into Mordor. After they fail to get through the Black Gates when they shut, Gollum offers to lead them on a secret path few knew about. While on their route, Gollum learns to trust Frodo as his "master", but all three are captured by men from Gondor, including Boromir's younger brother Faramir (David Wenham), who has learned of and deeply mourns his brother's death. When Faramir learns of Frodo's possession of the ring, he takes the hobbits and Gollum to Gondor in the hopes of winning the war for his kingdom despite Sam and Frodo's warnings that the ring would only obey Sauron.
After escaping their Orc captors, Merry and Pippin retreat deep into the forests of Fangorn and are brought under the protection of a tree-like creature called an Ent and named Treebeard. While the hobbits try to compel Treebeard into rising up against Saruman, the Ents remain divided and must decide whether or not to rise to the situation or allow Saruman to terrorize Middle Earth.
Saruman continues growing his forces and building up his power by destroying the nearby Fangorn Forest and raising over 10,000 of his own personally bred orcs called Uruk-Hai. With his plans for Rohan dashed and Sauron already suspicious of him, Saruman sends his armies to destroy Theoden and Rohan once and for all.
What's Bad?: Again, the flaws of this movie are minimal and are most certainly drowned out by the positives. There are several characters and plotlines that don't really go anywhere in this film. Basically from the moment the Fellowship left Rivendell in the last movie, there is little to do with the characters of Arwen and Elrond. The two are basically only in one or two scenes, with them debating whether or not it was right of Arwen to abandon her people to marry Aragorn, reminding her that as Aragorn is human, he will eventually die and she as an elf was immortal. But there really isn't anything for any of the elves besides Legolas to do in this film. Unlike in the books, the Elves send archers to assist in the Battle of Helm's Deep, but they don't make much of a difference. I guess Peter Jackson didn't want us to forget these characters exist?
Several characters also depart greatly from where they are in the book, though that is sometimes to be expected of an adaptation. Faramir is more like Boromir in this storyline, with him being more obsessed with bringing glory to Gondor than in realizing how dangerous Sauron's Ring is. But the most surprising change in this film is the character of Saruman. In the books, Saruman is a third player in the war, not directly aligned with either Sauron or the Fellowship and in it for himself. In the movies, he's played off as more of a puppet to Sauron, with him doing the Dark Lord's bidding despite his attempts to acquire the Ring for himself in the first film. A shame that in both Lord of the Rings and Star Wars that Christopher Lee was ultimately a puppet to both of the series central antagonists, but what are you going to do?
What's Good?: Basically, everything else. Once again, the acting is topnotch. All of the returning actors in this movie are strong roles, but what surprised me the most was how well acted the new characters were. I love basically everything about the plot surrounding Rohan, from it's struggles to prevent Saruman from conquering it to the infighting between Theoden and his family. Gandalf becomes more of a god-like figure in this film than he was in the last, where he was a more of a slightly eccentric combination of Ben Kenobi and Dumbledore. His voice rings with confidence and power that I'm still content knowing came from the same man behind Magneto.
But the Five Star rating for actors in this movie is clearly Andy Serkis's Gollum. While Tolkein only hints and subtly points to Gollum's madness in the books, Serkis and the motion capture technology used to make his creature work take those concepts and run with them. Gollum is a schizophrenic, neurotic and downright pitiable creature who has lost all senses of self and humanity during his time in possession of the Ring. He has split personalities, eats raw meat instead of cooked and constantly refers to himself in the third person, but he does seem to still possess a sliver of decency in him as he learns to trust and befriend Frodo, only for that to be betrayed when all three are taken by Faramir. It sets up his character so well for the third installment and I always enjoy me some excellent Motion Capture.
The set pieces of this movie are more grand than they were in Fellowship. While the first film was more of a Dungeons and Dragons styled quest, this film has more of that Fantasy War vibe to it that would become common place thanks to The Chronicles of Narnia and Game of Thrones. The Battle of Helm's Deep is obviously the centerpiece of this and as far as first fantasy battles go (not including the flashback from the first film), it's a gripping and horrifying look at what sieges and warfare would be like if your enemy had no shreds of decency or humanity in him. You have a deep sense of hopelessness in that Rohan has such few defenders and Saruman's army is almost invincible, only for it to be rewarded in the end with an unexpected turning of the tide.
There's also a sense of finality to this one. Whereas Fellowship was more open ended with it's conclusion, it's clear at the end of The Two Towers where everyone is, where they are going and what the drive is for the next film. Frodo and Sam inch closer to Mordor, Saruman's power is utterly trounced and Sauron's wrath will be felt on all of the Kingdoms of Middle Earth who dare to oppose him. I like to think of Fellowship's ending to be more like The Empire Strikes Back and for this film's ending to be in line with the original Star Wars. You had a great battle and the enemy was defeated, but there is still a great deal of work to be done to fix the problems.
Overall: I absolutely adore this movie and find it the perfect second act for this story. Not every second film in a series has to be as good as The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight or Toy Story 2. So long as it continues the story in an enthralling way, adds to the lore and provides us with entertainment, it doesn't have to be a masterful sequel. This film is perfect just the way it is and sets things up perfectly for the final film in the series, The Return of the King.
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