The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Once again, I am blown away by this film. Somehow they managed to make a sequel that manages to still keep the spirit of the first film, while at the same time expanding on the world of Middle Earth.

There is a lot more happening, storywise, and it is split into three separate subplots this time. The first one follows Frodo and Sam, played once again by Elijah Wood and Sean Astin, as they continue to journey to Mordor to destroy the One Ring, and along the way, they run into the creature Gollum, played by Andy Serkis, who promises to guide them there, but at the same time, he has his own designs. The second one follows Merry and Pippin, played by Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd, as they escape capture from the orcs and encounter the ent called Treebeard. The third one involves Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, played by Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davies, and Orlando Bloom, as they try to rally the rest of Middle-Earth to their aid to stop the armies of Sauron.

This film felt more expansive than the first film, which is quite a feat, considering how massive of a film the original film was. I think this was mostly due to this film having multiple storylines going on at once, giving time to explore new areas of the world.

We once again get some top notch acting from everyone involved, really making Middle-Earth even more fleshed out than it already was. You get to see Frodo's internal struggles as the Ring is beginning to take control of him, and the determination of Aragorn and his party as they journey to Edoras and later Helm's Deep, to participate in one of the most fantastic battle scenes ever put to film.

The action is definitely great, with the final act comprising of not just the battle of Helm's Deep, but also the battle of Isengard, and a bit of the battle taking place in Osgiliath. But the biggest point here is the character development and how, throughout all the hardships these characters are going through, they make connections and grow closer together. And to wrap it all up, it ends on a cliffhanger promising even more dark events for our main characters in the next chapter. 

Overall, this is definitely an improvement on an already amazing movie. How they made a second perfect movie in this trilogy is beyond me, but they did end up doing so, and I am very happy to see the conclusion. As with the previous film, despite this being a considerable time commitment, it is definitely worth it all the same.

Next time, we are going to watch the epic conclusion of the quest to destroy the One Ring and the battles to decide the fate of Middle-Earth in one of the most awe-inspiring finales ever created. Keep an eye out when I review The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

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