When The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings, ended so abruptly, we the audience were a little peeved that we would have to wait a year to get the next installment. But Peter Jackson did not disappoint us. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers jumped right into the plot just where the story left off and took us on the most incredible journey through Middle-earth. And yes, my favorite character the Gollum or Smeagol (Andy Serkis) played a more prominent role in this film. The storyline just flowed as if the 11 hours of movie was all one. Ahhhhh that is the secret, Jackson filmed all three episodes at the same time over a 18 month period so the journey just ebbs and flows as if it were one film. Usually a three-hour movie makes me antsy, but the time moved quickly and the story episodic. No chance for boredom.

Frodo (Elijah Woods) and Sam (Sean Astin) are making their way to Mordor, or at least they are trying. They seem to be going in circles. Meanwhile the ring is sucking Frodo into its power. The Gollum is right on their heels ready to recover what the Hobbits stole from him, his precious. At the same time the remainder of the fellowship is tracking the other two hobbits, Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan), they were captured by Orc’s. Aragorn (Viggo Moretentsen, 28 Days), the dwarf and that cute Elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom) are right behind the Orc’s ready to rescue their friends. Alliances are formed and broken, tree’s can talk and walk, and Gandolf (Ian McKellen, X-Men) is returned as Gandolf the White. Just as Frodo gets close, he is captured by humans, who underestimate the power of the ring. War has erupted all over the land and it rests on Aragorn, Legolas and Gandolf to save Middle-earth.

The most amazing battle scene takes place a little over two hours into the film and sets the tone for the war overtaking Middle-earth. Others in this movie are, Liv Tyler (Armageddon), Christopher Lee, Miranda Otto, Cate Blanchet (Bandits), Bernard Hill and Robyn Malcom. Because there is still one more installment, the movie does kinda just leave off, but not nearly as abruptly as in the first episode. I was engulfed in the fantastic scenery, imagery and uniqueness of the characters and the horde of 10,000 that came to destroy the kingdom of Rohan. But most of all Smeagol was the most entertaining and hilarious of all the characters. I give The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers a perfect 10 on the About-Movies.com scale.

Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:48:44 AM

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