What a night. It’s now 3:45 am as I start writing this review, and I will note that I just returned from the 12:01 am screening of Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers. I bought my tickets on my way into work today, at the Capital 6 theatre, which is not too far from my apartment in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. When I met a friend that night at 11 pm, there was already a huge line-up stretching down from deep inside the theatre halls onto the street. We waited for 40 minutes before being let inside. My friend secured us some good seats and I lined up for popcorn and drinks.
After 20 minutes of commercials (only two of which I remember - the Sony Playstation ad featuring Santa, and a Tellus Mobility ad with a monkey - all the rest were jeered at with harsh and angry boos from the crowd), and about 15 minutes of trailers for upcoming movies (only two of which I remember - T3: The Rise of the Machines, and Dumb & Dumberer - with all the rest being jeered at with more harsh and angry boos from the crowd, including myself); we got a special treat. The reels stopped as the screen came to life with the words ’’feature presentation, ’’ and manager of the theatre came out and a spotlight shone on him. The crowd booed, wanting to get into the movie many of them had been waiting in line all night to see. The manager asked us to remember to turn off all our cells and pagers and then introduced us to a special guest, and I didn’t hear who it was but the audience started clapping and that clapping turned into a standing ovation, and so it wasn’t until this man was at the front of the theatre, about 4 rows in front of me, that I was able to see that yes, this was a man who really needed no introduction: because it was Sir Ian McKellan.
Sir Ian McKellan rightfully received a long standing ovation and thanked the crowd for coming out to see the movie. He noted that he had spent the last 6 months living in Vancouver, filming X-Men 2 and Emile by director Carl Bessai. He also said that he had spoken to Peter Jackson on the phone earlier that night and told him that he was coming to the screening and Peter asked him to thank the audience for coming. Ian told us that he loved working on Peter’s set, because Peter loves filmmaking and loves making his movies for the audience - us. And in the end, I’d have to agree with Mr. McKellan, one thing I found that came through strongly in The Two Towers is that it was made for audiences to savour and really, truly enjoy. He then spoke briefly for a bit longer, and once again thanked us for coming, and as he went back up into the aisle, he got another standing ovation as the lights dimmed and the movie began.
And how it began. The Two Towers picks up right where The Fellowship of the Ring left off, and immediately propels us into its story of intertwinded journeys. But whereas The Fellowship lagged in its storytelling, due to the simple fact that the first movie had to introduce us to the vast array of characters involved, The Two Towers delves right into the action, while at the same time continuing its character development and forward momentum of the story, and in the end it is a stronger film because of it.
I do admit that for one, I still haven’t read the books this series is based on. And I also do admit that I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Fellowship of the Rings, as I found it rather slow and plodding, and in fact when I first saw it with my girlfriend at the time, I couldn’t help but crack a lot of jokes. And I also have to admit that JRR Tolkien must have been an amazing storyteller. The vast array of characters and plots that come to life in these movies is awe-inspiring, and I am starting to see that when they are compared to side by side, they really do begin to add up to a much larger and very interesting whole. As such, I can’t wait until The Return of the King next fall. I may even read the books by then!
Undoubtedly, Peter Jackson has made a very strong film here. It comes to life on screen in such an amazingly visceral way that I found myself never confused by anything that was happening on-screen. The lighting is perfect, no scenes are too dark or too light - they are just right, although at times, the Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) does seem like CGI (with that awful shiney-sheen that glosses over the screen), but those instances are very, very rare or simply forgotten about as the story moves on. In fact, the character of Gollum / Smeagol is wonderfully animated with a depth and care that I’ve never seen before. The character really does appear to be very real and life-like - which is more than I can say for Lucas’s Jar-Jar Binks.
The story is rather simple: Frodo and Sam continue on their adventure to destroy the Ring that so easily corrupts and destroys so many. As well, the other central characters from the first film continue on their journeys to build alliances and work together to defeat the evil-doers, with everything coming to a wonderfully old-fashioned stand-off and battle at the walls and gates of a huge castle built into the side of a mountain.
And yet, in spite of the simplicity of the story, I was surprised at the many themes that emerged: the redemptive power of love; the importance of friendship; the importance of building trust and relationships with the goal of effectively working together for a greater good; as well as the importance of finding a balance between living life and looking after Earth and the environment around you. And yet, in spite of the seemingly huge weight of these themes, there is never any doubt that this is an action movie, and that all the good characters (no matter how shady some of them may seem) are there to fight to protect all that is good, kind and respectable in Middle Earth.
There are some fine performances in this film, including by Sir Ian McKellan, Elijah Wood and Brad Dourif. In watching Fellowship, I wasn’t sure if I cared for Wood’s Frodo Boggins, but here I find myself respecting him more for the travails he is facing. This ring is very powerful, and even with Frodo (who is so seemingly similar to Harry Potter), its effects are beginning to show. It’s interesting to see Gollum leading Frodo down a path that may or may not be a good one, and a duality is forming within Frodo that will undoubtedly have ramifications in the film to come.
And it was very nice to see more female characters in The Two Towers, with some of them even taking strong (if somewhat cliched) leadership roles in the arch of the story. In watching Fellowship of the Rings, aside from a few scenes for Liv Tyler and even fewer for Cate Blanchett, I don’t really remember any other women in the movie. And Howard Shore creates the composition of his lifetime, with music that is sweepingly epic and perfect for the scope and raw emotional power of this film.
So in the end, I really did enjoy The Two Towers, much more than I thought I would and I’ll definitely be seeing this film again while its playing in the theatres. In my humble opinion, it’s an almost perfect film for its genre: complete with stunningly original visuals and beautifully choreographed battles, as well as a healthy dose of reasonable character development woven in among many interesting themes. And for that alone, The Two Towers is definitely a wonderful holiday treat.
Grade: A+
(Movie originally reviewed very early on December 18, 2002)