[New Line Productions] Frodo (Elijah Wood), left, and Sam (Sean Astin) approach the black gates of Mordor.

The middle child of Middle-earth

The second installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy brings the special effects feat named Gollum, but not much else new.

By STEVE PERSALL, Times Film Critic

© St. Petersburg Times
published December 17, 2002

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The Two Towers is the second film in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the first ever in which a computer-generated character completely upstages the human actors. While flesh-and-blood performers perfectly enunciate solemn warnings about the future of Middle-earth, a marvelous CGI creation called Gollum steals the show.

Jar-Jar and Dobby: Eat your hearts out.

Director Peter Jackson

Gollum is such an impressive breakthrough -- "drawn" using the limber movements of actor Andy Serkis as a template -- that viewers may not care about the rest of the film's shortage of cinematic originality. Last year's first episode, The Fellowship of the Ring, was far superior in terms of sheer wow, although the plot seemed more like a video game outline. The Two Towers has more story momentum, as midsections often do, yet it comes at the expense of special effects with ominous discussions matching fantastic compu-doodles for screen time.

I didn't see one special effect in The Two Towers equaling the show-stopping tidal wave in The Fellowship of the Ring that assumed the shape of stampeding horses. The opening sequence recounting Gandalf's Part One slaying of the dragon Balrog comes close. After six hours of drama, with three more to come in next year's The Return of the King finale, that isn't much of a success ratio.

How does Jackson do it this time? Volume. Everything about The Two Towers is bigger, but that doesn't necessarily make it better. Clashing hordes of warriors have a grandly violent appeal, until the whiplash editing and sickening sound effects get tiresome. Those snowy mountains the Hobbits and warriors traverse toward the climactic battle of Helm's Deep are stunning, until repetition makes The Two Towers look like an IMAX travelogue. If you've seen one plug-ugly Uruk-hai creature, you've seen all 10,000 of them.

This seems like an opportune moment to insert my annual Rings trilogy disclaimer: I haven't read J.R.R. Tolkien's novels and fully expect to hear the howls of devotees wondering why my bosses allowed me to review The Two Towers. My response is the same as last year: Any movie should be able to stand on its own without the viewer doing research beforehand. Jackson has constructed his films with only the experts in mind, tossing around strange names and incidents, thrilling Tolkien readers who can fill in the blanks and befuddling the rest of us.

I was thankful when someone unrolled a Middle-earth map for a sense of perspective, and Cate Blanchett made an obligatory appearance as the elf Galadriel, summarizing the first 90 minutes of The Two Towers.

But, hey, as long as experienced fans are willing to buy tickets over and over again, inflating box office receipts to nearly Titanic numbers, that's all that matters. All that time reading and money spent gives Ring bearers vested interests and short patience with people like me. They wouldn't admit Jackson's mistakes even if he used hand puppets to tell the saga.

At this point in the legend, things are looking grim for the fellowship on its quest to destroy a magical, world-shaking ring in the Cracks of Doom at Mordor. The group is splintered now: In one direction, Hobbit hero Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) is shouldering the psychological weight of carrying the ring, aided by his very close friend Samwise (Sean Astin). They're in charge of reminding us what the quest is all about. The ranger Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) is on a different path to Mordor with the dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and Legolas the archer (Orlando Bloom). They handle the muscle work, minor comic relief and beefcake requirements.

From left, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gandolf the White (Ian McKellen) stop while riding on the Rohan plains.

Meanwhile, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) are in company with the film's most clumsily conceived creatures, a herd of walking, talking tree shepherds called Ents constantly betraying their blue-screen insertions with an H.R. Pufnstuf-style lack of fluid motion. It's odd that Jackson, for all his attention to detail and eye candy, didn't recognize the need for another Ents development session or two.

And, in the grand fantasy tradition of Spocks and Obi-Wans, the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) is resurrected from the nearly dead as Gandalf the White, a bit feistier and bathed in ethereal light. Gandalf's responsibility is reminding viewers that Saruman (Christopher Lee) is doing evil at the request of Sauron, a giant electro-bloodshot eye. Other characters either mattered more in Part One (Blanchett and Liv Tyler) or will matter more in Part Three (Miranda Otto).

Then there is Gollum and his fascinating split personality, conniving in one voice and protesting to himself as his conscience-stricken alter ego Smeagol. Gollum wants the ring even though a previous possession turned him into the emotional wreck he is. It's no coincidence that Gollum's round eyes resemble Wood's, since Frodo could wind up in the same condition. Gollum's froggish physique and limber movements are fascinating, and his internal conflict is a surprising source of the film's only true emotional pull. Surprising, and a bit disappointing in the overall picture.

Like its bookend films, The Two Towers is three hours long, mostly padded by Jackson's imaginative atmospheres and lively battles. But viewers can get that from Martin Scorsese's brilliant, forthcoming Gangs of New York, plus a more complex and compelling story. Tolkien readers will angrily disagree, but their view is as tainted by experience as mine is by indifference. They can't help feeling that way. It's just force of Hobbit.

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

• Grade: B
• Director: Peter Jackson
• Cast: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Liv Tyler, Brad Dourif, Miranda Otto, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving
• Screenplay: Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair, Frances Walsh, Peter Jackson, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Rating: PG-13; harsh violence, scary images
• Running time: 179 min.

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