On July 3rd 2002, the year Tom Cruise turned 40, movie goers bought tickets to see “Men in Black II.” As they wait paitently, a teaser trailer of “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” made everybody excited for the highly anticipated sequel to “The Fellowship of the Ring.” When I was a kid, I went on the hype train. Five Months Later, the sequel earned critical acclaim from critics, fans, movies goers and I. The Two Towers became the highest-grossing film of 2002 surpassing “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” & “Attack of the Clones.” The second installment won two Oscars including “Best Sound and “Best Visual Effects.” It didn’t win “Best Picture.” “Chicago” ultimately took home the big prize.
Warner Bros. & New Line Cinema are developing an anime prequel titled, “The War of the Rohirrim” with Miranda Otto reprising her role as Eowyn and one of my favorite actors, Brian Cox will portray Helm Hammerhead. The King of Rohan. As a fan of “The Lord of the Rings,” I wanna share my thoughts on the second film before the upcoming film comes out next Christmas in 2024.
It doesn’t matter if SPOILERS are listed. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is either referenced or parodied in other works.
Greater & Less Qualities
Greater: The Cast from the first film reprise their roles and they all did an excellent job for their respective performances.
Newcomers to Middle-Earth such as Karl Urban, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif & John Noble all did a great job for their respective performances.
Peter Jackson & Fran Walsh both did a magnificent job adapting the second volume.
Set after first film, The Fellowship is broken. Three storylines intertwine with the fate of Middle-Earth. Frodo & Sam travel to Mordor. They encounter Gollum who helps them with directions. Aragorn, Legolas & Gimli must protect the people of Rohan from Saruman’s army and they’re reunited with Gandalf (now wearing a white outfit) back from the dead after defeating the Balrog from the first film. Merry & Pippin escape captivity from the orcs. They meet Treebeard They help him and his tree species coordinate an attack at Saruman’s place.
Action Sequences are bigger and better than ever. My favorite one is none other than the Battle of Helm’s Deep. It deserves a tremendous amount of Extra Points.
Howard Shore (The Departed, A History of Violence Hugo) orchestrated an epic soundtrack. Music earns Bonus Points.
Cinematography’s stunning yet in-depth imagery, makes you wanna immerse yourself within Tolkien’s world. By the way, you can visit New Zealand where they filmed the movies. Save up some big bucks.
Prosthetic Makeup transform several extras into various creatures. The Uruk-hai look like Ariana Grande without makeup.
Peter’s Visual Effects company, Weta Digital brought Gollum to life. Andy wore a Motion-Capture suit onset. His appearance was altered in post-production.
Gimli provides comic relief. He’s ten times funnier than these unfunny characters from 2002.
- Pistachio (The Master of Disguise)
- Pluto Nash (The Adventures of Pluto Nash)
- Marv & Vera (Home Alone 4)
- Jessica (The Hot Chick)
- Madonna (Swept Away)
- Jennifer Lopez (Maid in Manhattan)
- Walter Duffy (Stealing Harvard)
Practical Effects were also involved. Gotta love a balance between C.G.I. and old school effects.
Costume Designs were manually designed. They’re top tier.
Memorable Dialogue. My favorite line from Theoden is, “So it begins.” I always say that whenever something good or bad happens. Like Kim Kardashian in “American Horror Story: Delicate.”
The One Ring’s a metaphor for drug addiction. Remember kids, always say no to drugs.
Unlike Jar Jar Binks, Gollum is a three-dimensional character who suffered from the ring’s influence. To prepare for the role, Andy Serkis studied drug addiction and split personality disorder to make Gollum/Smeagol as a tragic character the audience feel sorry for his miserable path of self-destruction.
Besides John Rhys-Davies playing my favorite character Gimli, he also voices Treebeard.
A Wilhelm Scream is heard when a random elf flies in the air.
Three storylines set up the final installment, “The Return of the King.” After Gandalf arrives with a calvary defeating Saruman’s army in Helm’s Deep, he warns Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli & Eomer the battle’s a small victory, but Sauron’s forces will escalate into another big battle. Their last hope is Frodo. Gollum plans to betray Frodo by taking him to Shelob the giant spider so he can steal the ring for himself.
Extended Edition features scenes deleted from the theatrical cut. A significant improvement.
- Frodo & Sam rappel down a mountain using a rope.
- Saruman prepares his army to attack Helm’s Deep.
- Eowyn pays respect to her brother and Rohan villagers.
- More Character Development on Merry & Pippin becoming less humorous. Setting up their separation in the next film.
- A flashback adding context to Faramir’s relationship with his late brother Boromir. Their father, Denethor is given a proper introduction.
Less: I couldn’t find nothing wrong. I’m giving Peter and his crew an Extra Point for making a flawless epic as possible.
The Final Verdict: A, FOR APEX
The Two Towers is an example that sequel surpasses the first film. I also had fond memories playing the video game on the PS2. If you wanna introduce somebody to The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I strongly recommend the Extended Editions.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 