Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Quest Continues

Main Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis

Director: Peter Jackson

The second part of the LOTR trilogy, The Two Towers focuses on war and new players, including a deeper look at the creature Gollum. The fellowship has broken, and while Frodo (Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) continue their perilous journey into Mordor, Aragorn (Mortensen), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies),and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) chase the orcs that have abducted the other two hobbits, Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan). While this may seem to be many threads with many different characters, Mr. Jackson skillfully blends each of the stories together and the plot flows quite smoothly.

The introduction of Gollum (voiced by Andy Serkis) in The Two Towers adds complexity to Frodo and Sam’s quest, and his usefulness as a guide grates on Sam’s nerves. He simply doesn’t trust the creature. Frodo, however, decides to put his trust in Gollum: truly, to get through Mordor, he has no choice. Meanwhile, the others find themselves in the lands of Rohan, the horse people, led by the erratic King Theodin (Bernard Hill). Initially under the evil Saruman’s (Christopher Lee) control, an old friend manages to break the spell and allow the king to retake the throne. Just in time, as the orc army approaches, and a desperate plan is hatched. War is inevitable, and is the focus of the movie. The battles are very skillfully done, both full of noise, chaos, and tumbling bodies.

The Two Towers is a very good continuation of the trilogy, focusing on war and battle, but there is enough time to further develop the main characters, as well as introduce new ones. I was especially taken with Eowyn (Miranda Otto), the king’s daughter and no featherweight. Definitely worth a look, although it is a very intense PG-13.

More LOTR:

The Fellowship of the Ring

The Return of the King

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