The Epic Journey - Part 2. Review on Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Movie

King Theoden of Rohan has fallen ill & is completely under the control of his wicked & cunning counsellor Grima, the Worm-Tongue. Worm-tongue is a spy of Saruman whose task is to keep Rohan weak. Theoden is so lost in his own world that he is even unaware of his son Thodreds demise in the hands of Sarumans army. Eomer the nephew of the king & heir to the throne is suspicious of Grima. Grima gets Eomer banished for life from Rohan under some false pretext. Grima also has an eye on Emoers sister the beautiful 'Lady of Rohan' Eowyn.

Due to scarcity of space... Prelude to Two Towers has been moved to the comments section

Trail of Merry & Pippin...

Banished from Rohan, Eomer encounters the horde of Orcs carrying Merry & Pippin to Saruman. Eomers army slaughters all the Orcs & Uruk-hai. In the ensuing confusion the hobbits escape from the Orcs & enter the enchanted forests of Fanghorn.

There they meet Fanghorn (also called Tree-beard) the old Ent who saves them from the Orcs, but captures them thinking them to be Orcs themselves. Treebeard belongs to the race of Ents - the giant, tree-like people whose purpose was to protect the forests of Middle-Earth.They are taken to meet the 'White Wizard', who identifies them for what they were. Now Merry & Pippin leave with Tree-beard to attend 'Entmoot' the meeting of Ents to decide whether to participate in the war against dark forces.

Trail of Aragorn & team...

Aragorn along with Gimli & Legolas enters Rohan in the search of Merry & Pippin. There they meet Eomer who recounts them his encounters with the Orcs & their mass slaughter. Following the trails of Merry & Pippin, they enter the Fanhorn forests. There they come face to face with the Gandalf! Following his valiant battle with the Balrog & it's slaying, Gandalf has been returned back to Middle-Earth as the more powerful than ever, Gandalf the White ( he was Gandalf the grey in the first part!)

Together they travel to Rohan... where Gandalf 'exorcises' king Theoden from the magic of Saruman. Theoden returns back to health & expels Grima, the Worm-tongue from Rohan. Gandalf warns Theoden of the dangers of approaching army of Orcs. Instead of fighting them head-on, Theoden decides to take refuge in the fort of Helm's Deep against the advice of Gandalf to stand-against & fight them face-to-face. Gandalf leaves Rohan promising Aragorn to return soon with the army of Eomer. Sparks seem to fly as the handsome gorgeous Aragorn meets ravishingly beautiful Eowyn.

On the way Rohirrim face lots of difficulties including an attack of the Warg-riders, the Orcs riding gigantic Wargs (wolves). While fighting the War Aragorn falls off the cliff into a river & is presumed dead. Rohirrim reach Helm's Deep under the guidance of Eowyn, the niece of Theoden. There they wait for the Orcs to attack, safegaurded by the impregnable fortress of Helm's deep.

Mean while Saruman reveals his plans to exploit the only weakness of Helm's Deep to defeat men, to his trusted lieutenant Grima who has joined him after expulsion from Rohan.

Trail of Frodo & Sam...

After leaving rest of the Fellowship behind, Frodo & Samwise Gamgee are lost in their way to Mount Doom. They are attacked by the abominable creature Gollum, whom the hobbits overpower & hold him captive. Gollum agrees to guide Frodo & Sam to Mordor to save his life.

The Journey to Mordor takes them through the swamps where bodies of men, elves, orcs killed in the earlier wars are still floating & whose waters are inhabited by spirits; the attack of evil men riding Oliphaunts (gigantic multi-tusked elephants) on Gondor; captivity of Faramir brother of Boromir & son of Denethor, the steward of Gondor & the attack of Winged Shadows ( Nazguls riding on winged fearsome winged Steeds) on Gondor.

Does Faramir commit the same mistake to atone which his elder brother sacrificed his life? Can he withstand the lure of using the power of the ring to ward off the impending attack of Saurons armies on Rohan? Or will he trust Frodo & let go of him & his entourage?

Could Gollum who suffers from split-personality ( a la Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde) be trusted? Where is he leading the Hobbits to? To Mordor? or to their impending death? Which side of Gollum ultimately prevails - the good side Smeagol or the treacherous & cunning Gollum?

The Towering towers

Two Towers is a movie that can only be understood by those who have watched LOTR 1! It begings right somewhere in the middle & ends somewhere else in the middle! There is neither a flashback of what transpired in the first part (no time for all that)... nor does this movie provide a definite conclusion. That could probably the reason many who liked Fellowship haven't liked part-2 as much!

Peter Jackson continues weaving the magical story of Middle-Earth from where he left it in LOTR 2. With story flowing in so many directions, so many new characters entering the scene, so many epic battles/fights to be brought alive on the screen... PJ skillfully juggles between the stories with adeptness of a skillful story-teller... always keeping us on the edge in suspense. Given the arduous task of such an immense magnitude, it is quite remarkable that PJ manages to provide a sort of conclusion that doesn't leave the viewer totally disatisfied while leaving the theatre. At the same time he does manage to raise expectations for the next part of the Trilogy with a glimpse of things to come ( Oliphaunts, Nazguls on wings etc.).

Gollum is the hero of this part (as well as the next). Generated as a CGI image, Gollum is a true testimony to the prowess of modern computer animation! A totally 100% computer generated creature that looks as real as the actors essaying the roles of Hobits & Elves! Though combination of animation & live-action have been experimented earlier on in movies like 'Space Jam', never has a CGI character melded so seemlessly in a live-action movie!

Though PJ has recieved much flak for the way the Ents have been portrayed on the screen, I feel this over-criticism is unjustified as J.R.R. Tolkien himself has described the Ents as tree-like & some of them like Huorons having complete tree like existence! None of the critics have come up with an alternative presentation of Ents that could be more convincing than PJs & yet true to Tolkien's works.

The special effects are a notch higher than it's prequel the Fellowship...

# The epic climactic battle of Helms Deep

# Creature Gollum

# Fight between Gandalf & the Balrog

# Frodo falling into the swamp & getting surrounded by evil spirits

# Attack of the Warg-Riders

# Nazguls on Wings

# scenes of Oliphaunts

# Nazgul attack on citadel (to reclaim the ring)

# Destruction of Isengard by Ents

The romantic interludes involving Aragorn & Arwen continue ( causing much consternation). The love becomes triangular with the entry of delectable Miranda Otto as Eowyn. Men rule this action feature... while women add enchantments to this movie. Christopher Lee (as Saruman) is joined by Brad Dourif (Grima Wormtongue) in providing the chills

Last of the Trilogy, The Return of the King would be covered in the concluding part of this review.

Parting shot... The result of hours long Entmoot == Merry & Pippin are not Orcs! Pah.. So much for preserving dumb trees!!