This movie’s going to make more money than Fellowship, if only because action-crazy teenagers are going to jack off on this film.
That aside, let me begin my commentary, one which, I’m sure, will for a first analyze a film much more than I usually do as I normally would rather express my likes and dislikes in a perfunctory manner and leave you to decide whether you still want to see it. But for Tolkien, I reserve the right to be verbose.
The Two Towers is magnificent. Check your dictionary for the exact definition and you will understand what I mean. Peter Jackson had to manipulate three ongoing storylines as they follow the broken Fellowship through their travails. This is no small feat, and it causes disruption in the film on occasion. However, the film remains magnificent. The epic battles, the majesty and magic of the creatures, this movie does much to elevate the grandeur of Tolkien’s story from its humble beginnings as a road story to the approaching war for the survival of Men.
Let us, then, to the plot.
Tolkien wrote The Two Towers with two distinctly separate parts: Frodo, Sam, and Gollum as one, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli with a few asides for Pippin and Merry as the other. Logically, Jackson jumbles it all up as the Frodo storyline remains the character study and continuation of the Mission while Aragorn’s line is, in effect, the resurrection of Theoden King of the Riddermark and the subsequent defeat of Saruman. The Battle for Helm’s Deep was a glorious siege that lasted days and involved the development of a fast friendship between Gimli and Legolas, and the destruction of Isengard was not in the book, only mentioned in passing. What was in the book and omitted from the film were orcs getting consumed by a moving Fangorn forest… something I would have loved to see but, alas, was elminated and subsituted with an Ent attack on Isengard.
The Battle for Helm’s Deep is spectacular. A lot of people died, much more than I believe actually died in the book, including a company of Elves lead by Haldir of Lorien that never actually show up in the book. It becomes a grand epic battle, which, honestly, I enjoyed very much though the friendship of Legolas and Gimli was given short thrift. Their personal kill count sideplot was, thankfully, on the screen briefly… but what people do not realize is just how many orcs they ended up killing. Gimli gets separated and retreats with a band of Rohirrim and are considered gone for a night, during which Legolas laments. That sort of emotion in the midst of a grand epic battle would, I think, have worked quite well. But I’m fine with just a lot of people dying… just not as fine.
A major problem for me, however, was the character of Faramir. He was to be the antithesis of Boromir, his stronger brother. Where Boromir was a warrior, Faramir was a tactician. Where Boromir charged into battle, Faramir would find a way to win without suffering a single casualty. Faramir was the heart where Boromir was the arm. And Faramir was tempted by the Ring and he resisted it, and let Frodo go, while still at the falls. The whole scene at Osgiliath was, to me, very annoying and unnecessary. Faramir only sees the light after seeing evidence of the Ring’s corruption in Frodo… his character is lessened. I fear the love story between him and Eowyn. It’s one of the most touching romances in the book, where the two recover from their wounds in battle while Aragorn and Gandalf march to finish the war in Mordor. I hope it’s still in there and not substituted for a bolstered Aragorn and Arwen love story. Faramir is my favorite non-Fellowship character. I’d be really pissed if this happened.
And now a word on Gollum
Andy Serkis deserves credit. Gollum/Smeagol is exactly how he is supposed to be. A sniveling, shrieky, pathetic little creature who you cannot help but pity. Others watching the film with me complained about how he had so much screen time and how annoying he was. It just goes to show everyone felt the same way as Sam, and had no pity in their heart. The dual personality was beautifully done, and this stands as the biggest success of the film.
Hey, I’m all for big, epic battles. And Helm’s Deep was one mother of a battle. But the struggle within Gollum/Smeagol? That defined the struggle that is the soul of this book. I’m sure a lot of people would have preferred a Darth Vader-esque persona who was all evil and powerful till he is rescued in the end by compassion… but we are all not that powerful, and we are all tempted, and many of us fail. And that failure is our Gollum.
Besides, if you thought Helm’s Deep rocked, you really need to go read Return of the King and read up the Siege of Minas Tirith and the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Helm’s Deep is but a tiny speck compared to that battle, and Jackson’s gonna have to do something ridiculously good to up the ante he set in The Two Towers.
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