FILM: Another faithful elf
Lord Of The Rings — The Two Towers
The second film of a trilogy, The Two Towers was probably the most eagerly-awaited film of 2002. The first film, The Fellowship Of The Ring, won four Oscars, and set new standards in computer generated gubbins. There was enormous pressure on the second film to match the first, then. The Two Towers picks up immediately where The Fellowship left off: the group escorting the Ring of Power to be destroyed has broken up. Two hobbits — Frodo and Sam are left to take the ring to destruction and the other members of the group are either dead, or have toddled off to slaughter thousands of orcs. All fairly straightforward, and that’s the extent of the plot summary here; see the first film for more details.
Two things must be understood before watching this film with any sort of critical eye: first, this is a fantasy film, hence the use of the words "orc", "hobbit" and "ring of power" above. It is a blockbuster, and does not pretend to be anything else. It is not an existential work in the vein of Ingmar Bergman’s Through A Glass Darkly because it is not supposed to be; criticisms of a high-brow/low-brow nature are simply not valid as the film makes no pretension to the former. The Two Towers is a grandiose, roistering, saga in the finest tradition of William Wyler or Cecil B. DeMille: fair comparison, I feel. If you’re not prepared for suspension of disbelief with regards to orcs and wizards, do not go and see this film. Your loss.
Secondly, the film is remarkably faithful to the Tolkien novel. Such fidelity means that the films carries many of the faults as well as the positive sides to Tolkien’s writing. Hence, the film deals with themes of war, of moral frailty, and of good versus evil against a background of conflict and upheaval; all classic themes that film and literature have visited time and time again. Tolkien, however, fails to examine these themes in enough detail merely skimming the surface and his characterisation lacks similar depth. These faults are inevitably transposed to the film.
The Two Towers is similarly lumbered with Tolkien’s often unwieldy dialogue. On occasion, cast members sound as if they are quoting from Beowulf rather than making a sane attempt to hold a conversation with another character. That said, there are some great epic lines, and the occasional lyrical pomposity actually fits in with the general film rather well.
In spite of these criticisms, the script is decent. As mentioned, the fidelity to the original novel is remarkable writer/director Peter Jackson has kept to an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mindset, and where Hollywood has so often destroyed classic novels by tinkering too much (Trainspotting, The Beach, Bonfire Of The Vanities, etc, etc), in this sense The Two Towers stands as a remarkable tribute to its literary source. Indeed, the well-paced plot will keep the viewers avid attention with one vital and vastly irritating exception: about two hours in, Jackson has tinkered with the original story-line and it simply does not work. He has included ten minutes or so of pointless elvish fannying around which breaks up the flow of the film and is a tedious, unnecessary and annoying distraction from the main action.
With the exception of those ten or so minutes, and the aforementioned brief criticisms, there are few other faults with film. In particular, tribute must be paid to the cast. To a man, they handle the dialogue remarkably well in spite of the occasional clunky line. There is not a poor performance is sight here, but certain actors deserve particular mention. Viggo Mortensen is splendidly dark and brooding as Aragorn, the classically-flawed, enigmatic, sword-wielding action hero. Orlando Bloom is competent as the elf Legolas, and John Rhys-Davies as the dwarf Gimli provides some welcome light relief from all the epic posturing. Admittedly, all the jokes revolve around the fact that he a dwarf is short, but they work in context. Trust me.
Elijah Wood as Frodo does the troubled, doe-eyed tortured soul part well, and Ian McKellen oozes charisma as ever and is clearly a cut above any other actor on screen; he puts in a superb turn as Gandalf the wizard. If Judy Dench qualifies for an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love, McKellen surely must be in the running for Best Supporting Actor on the strength of this performance.
Good as McKellen is, the show is stolen by a man in a rubber suit with a silly voice. Wearing a suit hooked up to a computer, Andy Serkis acted and voiced the part of Gollum, and a computer character that mirrored his actions was superimposed over him. As a result, the Gollum character looks and sounds excellent; as an entirely computer-generated image, he fits in beautifully with his real-time surrounds and is a new benchmark for CGI.
CGI is the meat, drink and life-blood of this film. The whole trilogy would have been impossible to make without it, but the real achievement is that it is often difficult to tell the computer-generated images from reality. Die Another Day's CGI team must be weeping into their pillows at night. The battle scenes are incredible, and worth the entrance fee alone: nothing like this has ever before been committed to celluloid. The aforementioned Gollum — as well as tree-creatures the Ents — look superb and the trickery used to create various locations is flawless.
Director and writer Peter Jackson has done an excellent job of recreating Tolkien’s masterpiece on celluloid; all criticisms aside, The Two Towers is a truly remarkable piece of film-making. The movie benefits enormously from the continuity of having filmed the whole trilogy at once, and fits seamlessly into sequence with The Fellowship with no re-cap whatsoever to ruin the flow; a refreshing change from usual Hollywood practice. It is undeniable that this is a lot of fantasy hokum with elves, dwarves, wizards and the like, and yes the dialogue occasionally chugs like a car with a faulty ignition. These flaws, though, really do not detract from ones overall enjoyment of the film, which is largely so well-paced that any dodgy moments flash by and are forgotten in seconds.
It is entirely possible to be silly about this film, and sneer at the concept of a film that stars hobbits and wizards. If such a thing is not your cup of tea stay away. However, this film is a magnificent epic in the tradition of Ben Hur or The Ten Commandments, and the computer special effects are breathtaking. These, coupled with sweeping cinematography, make The Two Towers a remarkable achievement; a genuine ocular feast. This, whatever my few criticisms, is great fun, devoid of the studio interference that so often destroys book adaptations, and is a superb movie, better still than the first film. Just leave your cynical hat at home.
Andy Fox, January 3, 2003 11:38 AM