Part two is yet another solid adaptation.
Picking up where they left off, Peter Jackson’s continues his true to the book adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic with a fantasy world of men with swords, midget-sized people with odd looking feet and trees that walk, um, yes you heard right. Commencing with the surprise outcome of a heavyweight fight that was waged in The Fellowship of the Ring, the clash between good and evil grows in stature as both sides are multiplied in size-no this isn’t the clone war, but looks very similar to it. This battle between “good and evil†also happens to be the case for one of the newest figures in the film-a CG created creature named Gollum (think a less annoying Jar Jar Binks) who is a little mortal with a scary voice who is sometimes controlled by the other part of his split personality. He eventually becomes a bitch and guide to Mordor for our two favorite hobbits in Frodo (Elijah Wood-The Ice Storm) and Sam (Sean Astin-Goonies) whose travels put there friendship and trust to the test. Meanwhile, there are other developments, some more interesting than others, the epic battle and journey of a sword-swinging warrior, a sharp shooting elf and a dwarf axe chopping man found in Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen-Hidalgo), Legolas (Orlando Bloom-Black Hawk Down), and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies-Raiders of the Lost Ark) provides plenty of eye-candy moments, where as the lost pair of hobbits stuck in the forest-are hardly noticeable at all.
For those who haven’t read the books, there are plenty of surprises left to be uncovered in the second installment and in comparison to the part one, the story moves along at a more rapid and swiftly pace, conceivably it is because the characters don’t necessitate the introductions or as much back-story. Jackson has the leeway of devoting more time to the complex relationships between the various species of characters, and Jackson furthers the protagonist’s inner conflict battles with the responsibility of protecting the ring against himself and those who challenge him. Elijah Wood eyes and facial expressions are captured with this hunting, yet tinted blue luminosity. Another enhancement over the other feature is how Jackson prods our interest in one direction and then how he suspends the drama by crosscutting the scene onto another subplot of lively characters and pressing circumstances. The problem is that the film remains with this incredibly slow pace, feeling yet again like the first film with an unforgiving slate of watching two features squeezed into one. Perhaps, Jackson could have cut some more of the walking and traveling sequences and could have cut the mega battle time as well. The character of Gimli (who has the same coiffure as another fantasy world friend of Chewbacca from Star Wars) is a riot throughout the picture, providing many breaks in tension and adding some humor between the duller moments of the film. One sequence makes a visual remark of the dwarf’s height and easily becomes the film’s funniest moment. For those who love the larger mass creatures who stomp on humans you might have to wait until volume three, but then there is also the addition of Eowyn (Miranda Otto-Human Nature) a red-head who has an eye for the hunk Aragorn and there are also the rest of the supporting cast from the first film who come out and surprise us through the picture.
It’s hard to live up to the part 2 in film of all trilogies, for every Godfather Part II, there a hundreds of second films that can’t re-create the magic of the first film or for that matter create something totally unique in itself. This doesn’t feel like a different movie, which makes total sense since it was shot back to back. The production value here is like no other and Oscar will come knocking at New Line Cinema’s door for the an impeccable mise en scene which includes awesome film locations with the beautiful backdrop of the magnificent mountainous regions, costume design and props that add a true dynamism to Jackson’s fantasy world and the CGI moments found in the battle sequence provide fun eye candy especially with these sprawling aerial shots. The cinematography is rather impressive in the fight scenes and the film’s musical score by Howard Shore adds triumph to victory and weight to suspense. Overall, production wise this film gets a 5, but story wise it failed to grip me like the first film. The major disappointment in this film is the ending, which unlike the first film won’t make me ravage for the following final chapter in the saga. Fellowship had an ending that could have ended on three occasions, but at least I had a high level of curiosity which was suspended until now,-this feature kind of comes across like a roadblock until number three.
I expected and got the same exact feeling after watching Episode II, knowing that this is a simply a filler for what will eventually be the ultimate true epic battle, but until that occurs you’ll have to put up with a film that vaguely has a beginning, a middle and an end and you might have to get your fix through another annoying release of about 4 different DVD special edition sets. Much like the buzz of last year, this film will make a ton of money and the hordes of fans will flock to see it, but I think that many will agree that Fellowship is the better of the two pictures and that this film ends up looking like a companion piece. However, don’t be surprised by the overall production value of the film to push The Two Towers onto many critic top ten film lists of the year, this is still a marvel to watch and can only be full appreciated as a film theatre experience. See you at the Return of the King.
