Review

Well as some of you might know I have been lucky enough to see the movie twice. Once at a press screening in New York on the 3rd and again at the premiere on the 5th. To be honest I am glad I saw it twice before writing a review. I have made this as detailed as I can and it does contain many spoilers. So if you do not want to know please do not read the rest of this. I am sure someone else from the site will post a non-spoiler review shortly. I was going to make this brief but I realised that the movie has so many bits that I did not like and so many that I love. So I wanted to get that across

To give you an idea of where I am coming from, I loved The Fellowship of the Ring. I did not think it was the best movie I had seen, or even the best fantasy movie I had seen. But I thought it managed to capture the essence of the book and delivered on what it promised. The parts which irked me were Galadriel’s transformation and the length of some of the Moria scenes. Anyway, on with The Two Towers.

The movie starts as rumour had implied with a plunge. The camera pans over the misty mountains before piercing through the rock in a tunnel effect. We see the last part of Gandalf’s confrontation with the Balrog on the bridge. As he falls the camera follows him as he and Balrog lock in battle. It is well done with Glamdring rending holes in the tumbling Balrog. A frantic start to the movie indeed. The effects are fairly good and indeed the action so fast that it is hard to get more than impression of what is going on. Very effective nonetheless.

The battle rages and the camera moves to a long shot of a huge cavern. The root of the mountain. We see the Balrog and Gandalf, dwarfed by the grandeur of the cavern, plunge into the icy water.

We then cut to a frightened Frodo waking from a dream (featuring the above). Sam asks him what is wrong. Frodo replies” Nothing, just a dream…” Frodo and Sam really do look rough. Clearly the journey and the ever present menace of The Ring are taking its toll.

Going into the movie I greatly anticipated seeing Gollum. I did not have to wait long. As Frodo and Sam sleep (as per the trailer) we see Gollum slinking down the cliff face in eerie blue light. It is quite a shock to see this on the big screen and to hear the venom in his voice. His attack and the struggle that ensues is quite a marvel. It is vicious and violent. Only ending when Frodo shows him the cold steel of Sting and threatens to cut his throat. Quite a change from the watery eyed Frodo of the Fellowship.

At this point Gollum almost deflates and squirms pathetically on the ground. He does indeed look piteous but the fury of his attack and the menace in his eyes prevents you pitying him too much.

What is Gollum like as a CGI character? Well he is convincing and certainly looks real enough, for a five hundred year old hobbit tortured by the ring, Sauron and a harsh existence. A few times he looks like he is not part of the scene but soon you get used to him and it never crossed m mind again. Definitely the most convincing CGI character I have ever seen. No doubt in part due to the fact that Andy Serkis is actually playing Gollum and not just doing the voice, the physical acting is a sight to behold. I found him rather hypnotic throughout the film.

We also see Gollum have the elven rope put around his neck and his ensuing reaction. It raises a laugh maybe more out of bemusement at this strange creature than anything else. Sam’s harsh treatment of Gollum sets up their relationship for the rest of the movie. Though I did feel that maybe Frodo and Sam’s opinions of Gollum were too polarized. Though as I will mention later, this is not always a subtle film.

Next up we cut to Merry and Pippin and their ordeal at the hands of Saruman’s Uruk-hai. This is lifted nearly straight from the book, though Pippin uses his teeth to drop the elven brooch rather than escaping. Still it fulfills the same purpose and keeps the movie hurtling along at a racy speed. They both look in a bad way but are still perky and have their sense of humour. Neither of these two hobbits get a lot of screen time but what they do have comes over well. Fans of their book counterparts will not be disappointed.

Rather appropriately we then head to the master of their capters. Saruman is again communicating with Sauron via the palantir. Barad-dur looks great, bastion upon bastion etc. The Eye at the top however, hmmm. I never liked the eye from the Fellowship anyway, this one is worse. Looks like they made it 3d, but really with the naff lightning effects it looks like something from Vegas. I half expected a sign to light up saying 'Sauron grilled burgers only $2!' but it is a minor grumble. Just not very menacing at all and looks nothing like the description in the book. In fact the best representation in the film so far of the Eye was Boromir’s description in Fellowship, I think.

Saruman gives us some information on ‘The Two Towers’ and rather nicely relates his intension to dominate Middle-earth with the industry of war. Clearly setting us up for the fury of the Ents. It then it cuts to his servants hacking up more trees and more of those maternal birthing scenes.

Next we see him inciting the Dundelings to take back what is rightfully theirs. I liked the inclusion of this, though perhaps it will leave the general movie goers a bit puzzled, as we don’t get any more explanation of who or what they are. Perhaps in Return of the King we will see them surrender and make peace with Rohan………..

The Dundelings are then seen to be approaching a small village. We get a nice personal scene with a mother putting her children on horse back and urging them to flee the oncoming invaders. The ensuing attack is quite violent with many people being killed. Quite a change from Fellowship where mostly Orcs are the victims. This sets the tone of the movie. No quarter given or asked for. I did not spot Peter Jackson doing one of his infamous cameos here, but I am sure he does. Maybe next time……..

Rather interestingly we also get to see Theodred brought badly injured to Edoras. Eowyn tells Theoden his son is dead and will he not go to him. Théoden looks ridiculously aged and decrepit. I mean this is Night of the Living Dead stuff. Over the top, but as we find out later, rather than the more psychological poisoning they have went down the route of a full blown possession and physical attack. I was not very happy with this at all. More on this later.

Eomer then appears and stars to tell Theoden that he must act. With orcs roaming freely over the plains and the like. Then one of my favourite characters emerges. Brad Dourif’s Grima is excellent. He twists Eomers' words to make it look like he is war mongering. Then Eomer throws down a helmet with the White Hand daubed on it. Grima is silenced, he then retorts to the effect why are you laying these troubles on an already troubled mind…….

Eomer is furious; he uses Gandalf’s words from the book, how long since Saruman bought you etc. It plays well; I was a bit worried about Karl Urban from the trailer. But his delivery here is excellent, especially when he mentions that Grima is after his sister. This is too much for Grima, he banishes Eomer from Rohan under pain of death, and some guards loyal to Grima beat and drag Eomer out of the hall.

Finally we pick up The Three Hunters. Aragorn lies (almost asleep, nice touch) listening for the orcs. They have quickened their pace he says. There are some great helicopter shots of them running across the brow of a hill. Shows the enormity of the landscape very well. Though perhaps too much of this in the previous film, so it lessened the effect.

Gimli is played up repeatedly for comic relief. Again this is track his character takes throughout the movie. It works well for the most part and John Rhys Davies performance is dead on. Though even I have trouble with his accent sometimes.:-) Strangely they are gaining on the orcs; the orcs also notice this and quicken their pace. Though I was unsure when they say that their trail has been picked up, whether they meant by Eomer and his men or Aragorn and co. Still these sequences build the bond between the three.

Eventually even the Uruk-hai have to rest. The friction between the groups is played up. With them demanding a rest and something more to eat than filthy maggot bread! At this point they are at the eaves of Fangorn. So although not on the knoll as per the books, they are close to that spot. The setting is creepy with everything bathed in a blue light and a sickle moon hanging low. I have not checked the book to check if this is correct moon phase, but if it is, then a nice touch.

The trees are making noises and Merry relates the tales from The Shire about the Old Forest. With trees talking and even walking about. Pippin is great here and looks most disturbed by this news. As others have mentioned there are not that many orcs, maybe four dozen or so. I can understand this though. Trying to explain all the different groups would be a nightmare, especially given the pacing of this movie.

A great scene follows where one of the orcs fancies eating the hobbits. Ugluk points out them are not for "eatin". The orcs all have heavy cockney type accents, very amusing. Especially when one points out they don’t need there legs and they look quite tasty. Ugluk then knocks off one of their heads and says ‘meat is back on the menu boyz’. They then feast on their unfortunate associate.

We then get back to the Aragorn and company continuing their pursuit. More wise cracks from Gimli about being handy in a sprint, but not so good over long distances. The humour works quite well but later I think it is overplayed. Soon they realize riders are approaching and take cover. Eomer and his men rid over the hill and almost pass them by. This is stuff straight from the pages of The Two Towers. Aragorn stands up and cries” What news from the Riders of Rohan”. The riders adeptly surround them and they are encircled by a ring of spears. The tension builds a little as Eomer demands to know who they are. Gimli in typical fashion says “tell me your name horse master and I will give you mine”. Eomer then says he would cut off his head if he were not too small. Legolas does hit bit with the bow and it takes Aragorn to ease the tension and explain who they are. I thoroughly enjoyed this scene it really is the page brought to life in front of your eyes. With good performances all round. Gimli is thankful Aragorn is more diplomatic than he!

Eomer gives them some horses and tells them not to rely on hope. They ride off towards the pyre which Eomer has indicated is all that is left of the Uruk-hai. Here, the hunters are dismayed; they find an elven belt amongst the charred remains of the orc band and seem to lose hope. Then Aragorn saves the day with his skill as a ranger. He notices some marks left by the hobbits and deciphers the riddle. This is done with flash back the previous nights events.

It is perhaps a little far fetched, then again Aragorn is supposed to an excellent ranger, and the most widely traveled man of that time. He discovers the cut bonds and we are shown how the hobbits escaped the chaos of the battle. I have noticed others don’t like this scene too much. But given the darkness and their elven cloaks I am sure book readers will like it. It is important to realize when watching these movies that all the characters are supposed to extraordinary. Though I guess that is stating the obvious. Oh well…moving on.

The previous nights events are shown in flash back with the scene above (I think) with the Orcs suddenly assaulted by the Riders from all sides. It is a brief but bloody encounter. In the chaos Merry and Pippin make good their escape. They run under horses and avoid the various combatants. Just as they are about to escape Grishnak grabs one of there belts, I forget which hobbit it is, anyway they release the belt in order to escape. Explaining why it end up on the charred mound later. They almost reach freedom only to have Grishnak appear he is just about to slice and dice them when he is injured, a huge horse rear over them, Pippin looks like he might get crushed……..

But no fear he rolls aside and they escape into the forest, cut back to the Three Hunters going the same way. They wonder what on earth would possess them to enter the forest. Legolas relates a feeling of anger and that it is very old. He does quite a lot of stating the obvious in the movie!

The hobbits think they have lost Grishnak and decide to climb up into the tree to rest and take refuge. Needless to say our good villain is not to be killed so easily. A grasping hand tears at Merry’s (I think) leg. At that very moment Pippin is hanging onto a protruding branch when all of a sudden the ‘tree’ open its eyes. He nearly faints from fright and falls off Treebeard. Luckily the ent has good reactions and catches him in his hand. Meanwhile Merry is about to get ‘maggot holes cut in his belly’, very unpleasant and great stuff! Treebeard saves the day, with a quick stomp Grishnak is orc jelly.

So Treebeard the eldest living being (please don’t e-mail me about TB ;) ) is finally on screen. He not conform to what I had in my mind for ents. But he is not far off, his leafy beard and bark skin is very well done. His eyes are pretty much spot on, though not deep pools of slow thought by any means. He is a little long legged for me and very bendable. Hroommm…..still I cannot fault the execution of this vision of him. I guess it comes down to personal taste on this front. I still thought him and all the other ents were superb. The voice is well acted though perhaps to high, I expected something deeper and less accented. Maybe a touch too much like John Rhys-Davies real voice. As per the book he is unsure exactly what the hobbits are. He thinks them little orc spies and at one point gets quite agitated. I thought he might squash them too. However, he decides to take them to ‘The White Wizard’ who will decide their fate. It ends with the hobbits on the ground facing a white figure, they look scared and surprised.

This scene was fine for me up until the White Wizard bit. I really could not see the point of it. We know in the book that Treebeard has seen Gandalf. But as for taking the hobbits to him…..quite odd. Still the rest of the encounter is excellent and served as a good introduction to Treebeard.

Now we go back to see how the other two hobbits are faring. Gollum has now sworn to serve the master of the precious and is acting as their guide. As they enter the marsh Gollum points out that the orcs take the long way round and we see the huge expanse they cover. I got rather confused here. Gollum mentions the candles but we see none. There are large flames burning but I assume them to be gas burning off from the marsh. Maybe they are the candles……..hmmm

This is a pretty creepy part of the film, with the score matching it well. The faces in the marsh are pale and some are serene, though others less so. They appear just a few centimeters below the surface. Gollum explains that they are all dead and rotten as per the book. Though I was hoping for a hint that he had tried to snack on them. No such luck… Gollum warns them not too follow the lights and to stay close. Frodo wanders in a trance to the edge and stares at a long dead elven warrior. He then proceeds to fall flat into the water. Immediately the warriors faces change. Hideous masks and tangled white hair surround him. They are much like the Nazgul as seen in Fellowship. But more corpse like and horrific. It is quite horrible and would scare small children for sure.

Just when it gets almost claustrophobic he is dragged out of the water and surprised to see that Gollum is his savior. Sam looks on anxiously and comes over to see Frodo is all right. Gollum bounds off and says do not look at the lights. Frodo stares after him. Clearly at this point Frodo is starting to consider if Gollum is really all bad. I read another review complaining about the corpses being elven but in the book it is clearly describes elves, men and orcs all together in the pools. The whole scene is excellent, now given no-one in the book falls into the water but Sam does come close and Frodo does perceive the faces and their nature. I think this part is very well translated to screen.

Later they are resting and Frodo is seen stroking the ring in a dream like state. Clearly it is taking hold of him. It is a good way of getting the power of the Ring across. Frodo wakes to see Gollum talking to himself echoing Frodo’s very thoughts. He is whispering about the precious and beauty of the Ring. Frodo approaches him and demands to know; “who are you?” Gollum ignores his questions and starts signing rhymes and cavorting about. The interaction with Frodo and Gollum is very good and quite believable. The rhymes are those from the Barrow downs encounter. Quite clever and follows Jackson and Boynes' policy of using words others use in different characters.

Cold be hand and heart and bone,
And cold be sleep under stone,
never more to wake on stony bed,
never, till the Sun fails and the Moon is dead,

You get the idea; this is really good and fits very well. I enjoyed this part immensely. Frodo then calls Gollum by his real name, Sméagol. The look on Gollum’s face is somewhat tragic. This is developed soon enough…..meantime things are interrupted by the screech of a wraith on wings.

Swooping overhead is a John Howe painting come to life. Perhaps not everyone’s taste but impressive nonetheless. These things are very large and look menacing. Frodo clutches at his Morgul knife wound and his mind wheels. After a while, Sam clutches Frodo’s hand away from the Ring? I cannot recall, I think he does. Anyway the wraith departs and Gollum leads them towards The Black Gate.

Back in Fangorn Forest Aragorn and company explore the terrain. Legolas senses that the White Wizard approaches and they prepare to kill him before he can put a spell on them. As they turn a bright white light blinds them. Legolas arrow and Gimli’s axe are deflected by the wizards’ staff and Aragorn’s sword glow hot and he drops it. The wizards face is blurred and his voice sounds much like Saruman. A messianic Gandalf is revealed and they are astonished.

This is pretty much straight from the book and works very well. Though the biblical overtones were heavy for me. Though perhaps that’s just my overactive imagination. Gandalf then relates that the hobbits met someone they did not expect and tells of his final moments with the Balrog. We see him battling it atop Durin’s Tower, this final scene is great with him casting down the Balrog and it extinguishing in the snowy ledge below. Sadly it does not break the mountainside, but I was glad later as there are so many epic and spectacular scenes that it would have been too much.

He then tells how he lay broken and was sent back to complete his task. This is shown with a bruised Gandalf lying on the mountain and a rather strange scene is played. We see wheeling stars and him drifting through space (first person not third). It seemed a bit out of place at first but now I rather like it. He then says he felt life again and we see a naked Gandalf open his eyes. Overall I don’t think you could ask for more in this part. He ends with “"I return to you now, at the turn of the tide.”

They then head out of the forest and he whistles for Shadowfax. The whistle is a bit off I think, I half expected the cast from the Sound of Music to appear around the bend. Instead, however, Shadow fax gallops up in slow motion, a fantastic animal for sure. Both times I saw the movie people in the audience cheered at this point. He then relates that they must head for Edoras. Next all three are mounted again, the others on the steeds Eomer lent them. They gallop in spectacular fashion towards the capital. This is gorgeous cinematography and the music soars. Epic and over-the-top, yes, but superb stuff. I felt rather elated watching this.

Gollum, Frodo and Sam are now close to The Black Gate. It is quite a site, perhaps a bit metallic for me for still impressive. They are on an outcrop near the gate and wall, about 400 metres or so away. It is huge. The gate itself is wide enough for a whole army to issue forth very quickly. A shrill horn sounds and a battalion of Easterlings approaches. Sam notes there is a way down and as Gollum protests he crawls too near the edge. The outcrop breaks off and he falls. The dust trail he leaves in the scree attracts the attention of a one of the Easterlings. He and another go to investigate.

Meantime we get a good look at the gate. Dozens of orcs are guarding it, looking out, chatting and generally doing what soldiers do when on duty. The gate is opening and this is accomplished by four huge trolls. They are yoked to a pulley and drag the massive gates, orcs and all, open. Back on the scree slope Frodo too goes down the slope after Sam. He gets to him but Sam is buried up to his waist in scree. They cannot escape so he throws is elven cloak over them both. The feet of the foremost soldier can be seen from under the cloak. But the elven cloak deceives him and his fellows. All they see is a boulder. This is quite well done, if a touch pointless. Still it adds some action to the appearance of the gate, shows us the ability of the cloaks and sets us up for the enormity of the task, if shown, of assaulting Mordor in The Return of the King.

The Easterlings march through the gate and Sam wants to get in before it closes. Frodo almost runs with him, but Gollum drags them back and insists there is another way. Up a stair then some more stairs and…………through a tunnel. Sam is dismissive and asks why he never mentioned it before. By now it is too late and gate is closed. This scene play quite well in my mind, it strengthens the idea of how powerful Sauron is. Makes his forces a more credible threat, rather than us just using Saruman as his instrument. Plus there is some nice elaboration on how the gate is manned and it fits well into Tolkien’s vision, I think. My only gripe is the Easterlings, their armour is too spiky and they have eye makeup on………

Next up is the best scene in the movie. We see Eowyn kneeling beside Theodred’s bed. He is dead and she is weeping. Grima creeps into the room and says “Yes, he must of past in the night, such a tragedy for the King to lose his only son.” That might not be dead on but you get the idea. Next he goes on to tell Eowyn how hard it must be losing her cousin and with her brother having deserted them. They stand facing each other. The next exchange is the best part of the movie for me. Grima insidiously whispers in her ear about what she has endured. The cage she fears and herdark thoughts during the long empty nights. Her cot (or briar) closing in around her. Fair like an icy Lilly, I am paraphrasing here, it is combination of what Eowyn and others say. It is a great bit of dialogue. He caresses her cheek and she almost surrenders to his affection. The tension is tangible and you really believe she might. But, she suddenly recoils and says his words are poison as she leaves the room. Grima looks quite sad after this.

The reason I like it so much is it really get across how manipulative Wormtongue has been. Clearly he has been working on her mind for years, leading up to the moment when she surrenders to him since she has no one else left to give her the love she so desires. I cannot praise both Brad Dourif and Miranda Otto enough for this scene. Pure magic and very Tolkien. It reminded me of the moments when Denethor teeters on the edge of agreeing to go down and lead his people and such. I guess you will judge for yourself but for me it was the most captivating and emotional scene in the film.

Having spurned Grima’s advances Eowyn runs outside into the morning light. She gazes from the steps of Meduseld at her Uncle’s crumbling kingdom. A flag is rent from a steeple by the wind and the symbol of Rohan falls to the ground by the gate. At that very moment the Three Hunters and Gandalf ride up. Aragorn notes the flag as he rides in and looks somewhat grim. It is a very blatant symbol of the state of Rohan but it works well. They ride through the town and Gimli notes that there would be more cheer in a graveyard. The towns folks certainly look depressed and forlong. At the top of the steps Hama makes them disarm, though Gandalf get his staff in as per the book and a wink to Aragorn. The others do not protest and I was glad of this as Aragorn’s rant about Anduril would play a little pompously I think, even though he does not have it yet in the movie.

When they enter the hall Theoden is seated with Wormtongue by his side. He looks even worse I think, totally decrepit in fact almost dead. His lips are cracked, his skin is like creased leather and his eyes are glazed as if he has cataract. He does not welcome Gandalf and Grima agrees... As they walk towards the throne they are shadowed by some of Grima’s henchmen. The same who beat up and expelled Eomer. Gandalf raises his staff as Grima’s protests his staff being allowed in, I think he calls him a worm, Grima sprawls on the floor. The henchmen try to stop Gandalf but Aragorn and company deal with them easily enough. It is a bit ‘Bruce Lee’ with Legolas finishing one with a back hand fistl. Gimli halts Grima’s squirming with a boot placed on his neck and some good advice.

Now the bit I really did not like begins. Much like Galadriel’s transformation Peter Jackson has decided to make the whole thing very physical. Theoden is not just being a little weakened physically with his will badly damaged. He is possessed by Saruman! A rather ridiculous exorcism ensues with Gandalf purging Saruman, in fact at one point Saruman speaks through Théoden, and says that if he goes Théoden will die. I really expected Théoden’s head to rotate and for him to start climbing about on the roof! But Gandalf persists and eventually drives him out. Back in Orthanc a bloodied Saruman is thrown across the room. I guess some people will love this, for me it was unnecessary and a little cheap.

Eowyn, who up until now has been held back by Aragorn, runs to the king’s side and watches in amazement and wonder as his face and body changes. He loses about 60 years in a few seconds. Now this is very well done and subtle, or as subtle as such a transformation can be. However, it is the whole scene that bothers me it just seemed so………bad.

This set the precedent for Théoden’s portrayal throughout the movie. Anyway, he arises and as per the book his sword is put in his hand and he looks at it with new hope, his strength returning. It is quite a touching scene and works well. The rejuvenated Theoden turns his attention to Grima and throws him down the stairs of the hall. This is painful and I felt a bit sorry for him. He then pursues him further through the town and goes to strike him down with his sword. Aragorn steps in and says something to the effect that enough blood has been spilt on his account. Theoden relents…and Grima pushes past the gathering crowd and gallops off like a large bat.

This next bit is the only time I really made any emotional connection with Theoden. He is lamenting the death of his son. He and Gandalf are outside Edoras among the barrows. He mourns the fact that he has outlived his son and that the old linger while the young perish. It is really quite sad and one of the hard facts of any war, I guess. Gandalf tries to comfort him. He then spots a horse with some children on it. These are the ones sent by their mother earlier from the village the Dundelings were attacking. One of them falls off the horse and then we are back in the hall.

Eowyn is feeding and comforting the children and says the line from the trailer, they were attacked with no warning...etc. Gandalf, looking a bit too much like a samurai, also follows the clip from the trailer. They discuss what to do next. With Aragorn making some suggestions much to Théoden’s annoyance it has to be said. Gimli is comic relief again, stuffing his face and listening with some amusement it seems. To me, although Bernard Hill is very good, the Theoden he plays is nothing like the one in the book. He is neither fatherly nor gentle; rather we get a rather proud and arrogant king, much more like Denethor. Very odd and it really did baffle me, maybe I missed something when I read the book!

Finally Theoden makes up his mind to send everyone to Helm’s Deep. Ignoring Gandalf’s advice to ride out and meet Saruman (which would make sense maybe given the Rohirrim have a cavalry based army). Gandalf makes his excuses and rides out to find Eomer, telling Aragorn that he has walked the earth fro 300 lives of men and now he has no time. “Look for me on the 5th day…at dawn” he cries.

Now we catch up with Frodo and Sam. Here we see the development of Frodo and Gollum’s relationship. Frodo berates Sam for always calling Gollum Stinker and other names. This plays a little bit awkwardly as Sam really does look to be the bad guy at this point. Especially after a truly amazing and amusing conversation Gollum has with himself. To surmise he has his two personas Gollum and Sméagol. Gollum is very much the one who emerged to protect Sméagol from the harsh life he has had. Sméagol clearly had to invent Gollum in order to deal with the horrible things he had done. Sméagol decides that he does not need Gollum anymore, since the master, Frodo now looks after him. Needless to say Gollum is not too happy about this and reminds him he is a thief, a liar and a MURDERER. Sméagol covers his ears and repeatedly tells Gollum to go away and never come back. It works and Gollum leaves him. He then realizes he has been talking with himself and that he now one. He skips and dances about, delighted at his new found freedom.

This really is a remarkable scene; I don’t think I have ever seen anything quite like it. The audiences lapped it up, laughing perhaps too much. Since some of it is quite disturbing really. Though they have made Sméagol cartoon cute at points to lighten the subject I guess. But it is pure Tolkien and very amusing indeed. As I have said a few times, Weta and Andy Serkis have really pulled Gollum off.

Frodo gathers increasing empathy with Gollum and comes to believe he must have hope for Gollum’s salvation in order for there to be hope for his own. He has a quite a violent oral argument with Sam about this. Dismissing him and then apologizing. Later he does it again and does not apologize. Meantime they make their way further into Ithilien. I was delighted to see a dog like Gollum bound up with a couple of conies. Frodo smiles and Sam scowls a bit as Gollum tears at them raw and says look how tasty they are. He whips them off him and starts to cook them. Gollum is devastated and it all plays out very well. An excellent vision of this part of the book. Frodo then wanders off as he hears something.

He and Sam crouch on the edge of a grassy slope. Beneath we see part of a Southern army marching through the woods and over a ford. With them are two huge Oliphants. Mumak! My heart cried when I saw them… they look great as big as a house and as grey as a mouse! These are very well done, though with Jurassic Park and real Elephants to go on I expected good things from them. Next up we see some archers hidden in some nearby bushes. They let loose a hail of arrows on the hapless Southerners who scatter and panic. The Oliphants rage and one goes mad, trampling men all over the place and bounding towards Frodo and Sam. They decide too late to make a get away and bump straight into some masked men who detain them. Gollum being wily had previously beaten a retreat.

Again this bit is great and pretty much straight from the pages of the book... Sam even says something like, “an Oliphant Mr. Frodo the folks back home would not believe this.

Now at this point I think that it continues with Farmir questioning them at Henneth Annun. I cannot quite remember. Anyway, I will assume so and describe the events here. I know many people have been worried about Faramir and some reviewers have disliked him. For myself I really like the way he is played. He begins questioning them about who they are and what they are up to, he is quite suspicious. Frodo tells him they set out from Rivendell with seven companions and tell who each was. When he gets to Boromir, Faramir looks round. “Were you a friend of Boromir” he asks. “I was for my part” says Frodo. He then tells Frodo that Boromir is dead and that he hoped that one of his companions would be able to tell him more. Frodo also denies knowing anything about an ill-favoured looking character that was spotted by the Rangers.

Then it cuts to Faramir looking over some maps with one of his men. They talk about how Rohan is being assaulted from the West (seems scouts gave them this information) and that Osgiliath will face the brunt of Sauron’s fury. He gets called away and then returns and wakes the sleeping hobbits. They have discovered Gollum fishing in the pool. Some great scenes follow with Gollum grabbing some fish. Frodo approaches having pleaded with Faramir not to shoot him and having admitted the two are bound to one another. He goes down and convinces Gollum to follow him, Faramir’s men then grab Gollum and put a hood over his head. Gollum is thrown into a corner and questioned by Faramir. Instead of answering he talk to himself with Gollum (Stinker) making himself know again. Faramir learns of the Ring and goes to confront Frodo. He uses his sword to examine the Ring around his neck. The Ring looks very precious indeed reflected on his sword and he says “Now here is a chance for Faramir to show his quality.” During this time Frodo is delirious and finally screams and throws himself into a corner. Sam shouts at Faramir telling him to leave Frodo alone. He also pleads with him to let them go. At this point one of Faramir men enters and says Osgiliath needs help. Faramir decides they will be sent to Minas Tirith and they depart, ending with them seeing the ruined city in the distance.

Next up it is back to Isengard I think. Here Grima is telling Saruman what Theoden plans. He then says that although they are heading for the refuge of Helm’s Deep they will be vulnerable as they head through the mountains, with women and children. Saruman proposes to assault the Fortress and Grima retorts that it cannot be done. He is shown a huge pot of gunpowder and Saruman discourages him from examining too closely as he has a candle in his hand. He still says they would need an army of thousands… Saruman leads him out to the balcony where the army awaits. This is a great vision, even Grima looks a bit worried by this massive army of Uruk-hai. Saruman gives them a speech and the camera pans through them as per the trailer. When you see this on the big screen your jaw will drop, it is overwhelming! I felt a tingle on the back of my neck.

I reckon I have this sequence wrong but at some point he orders Warg Riders to be sent out and we see some nasty looking shadows on the side of a pit. Christopher Lee’s performance is adequate here. He does deliver his few lines with suitable venom and a few moments of magic.

Meanwhile at Edoras the band of refugees is snaking its way through the mountains, New Zealand really is a marvel and you cannot help but be awed by the beauty shown here. The characters chat and joke with Gimli explaining Dwarven women to Eowyn (it is a nice inclusion from the book). She and Aragorn share a joke about the beards and there eyes meet for a second. Then another comic moment form Gimli as his horse bolts and he is thrown, don’t worry he says it was deliberate. This is also where Eowyn asks Aragorn about the woman who gave him the jewel he wears. He looks a little dreamy eyed and a flashback occurs.

He and Arwen are talking in Rivendell. He tells her they cannot continue, “It was a dream,” he says. We also see Elrond telling Aragorn that he is separating her from her people. It all looks very pretty and is well acted, I guess. Though quite why this divergence from the book is included I am not sure. I guess they are building the pressure on Aragorn and giving their love story a dynamic more suitable for film. It did not jar with me, like many reviews have said. It did seem a little superfluous though.
Anyway, he snaps out of it and replies to Eowyn that she has left for the Grey Havens. Eowyn looks troubled. I wish they had included more dialogue between these two; it would have made Eowyn later distress all the more real.

Hama and another rider are scouting ahead. Hama’s horse snorts and whinnies, something is wrong. From the ledge above a huge Warg and rider jump down and savage Hama’s horse, he falls off and is Wargfood. The others are alerted and the refugees panic a little. Theoden tells Eowyn to lead the people to Helm’s Deep despite her protests that she can fight. Aragorn and company mount up and along with ten or so riders go to meet the wargs. Legolas spots the rest of the Wargriders from a hill. He takes a few of them down very clinically, this is rather well done and his leap onto the back of Gimli’s horse is a peach. Very western meets the Matrix.

The clash of the two sides is bone crunching with huge Wargs savaging horses and general chaos ensuing. The Wargs, thankfully, are not giant hamsters with dental problems. They come across well and look pretty real most of the time. Again humour is injected via Gimli who is gradually crushed by more and more, dead orcs and Wargs. He looks indignant at the stench. Aragorn gets locked in combat with a large nasty looking orc. He manages to wound him but then he himself is caught up in the Wargs saddlery. He is dragged off a cliff along with the slavering beast. Meantime the other riders mop up the remaining Wargs. Soon they are searching for Aragorn, they find the orc he wounded who is smiling through his blood covered face, he tells them Aragorn went over the cliff and he dies clutching the Evenstar pendant. Legolas retrieves this and they run to edge of the cliff. All that can be seen is the fast flowing river at the bottom. Gimli and Legolas look devastated, though Theoden is rather nonchalant. I guess that with all the death around him recently we are supposed to think he is beyond caring too much. Plus Aragorn had irritated him somewhat earlier…

We see the refuges reach Helms Deep and they thank Eowyn for guiding them there. The set is excellent and the people look suitable dirty and ragged. Morwen, the women with the children is reunited with them. Soon Theoden and the others arrive minus a good few of their number and Aragorn. Gimli tells Eowyn that Aragorn has fallen in battle. She really despairs now and looks shattered, she looks to Theoden for comfort and he shoots her a brief consolatory glance. Though without reading the book folks might puzzle over her sudden attachment to him.

I was expecting this fake death before I saw the movie. I am not sure about it yet; Peter Jackson and company seem to delight in killing off people only to have them return. After a while it does lose its power somewhat. Though in this case it leads us into a dream sequence and a bit of character development for Aragorn. As well as letting them tell us what is going on further north.

Cut to Aragorn floating face up down the river, he looks pretty beat up and has a nasty cut on his arm. He floats to the shore and we enter his dreams. TO me this looked like Arwen bringing him back to life. I think I have mixed the two sequences up somewhat. For sure he tries to give her the Evenstar back but she says it is a gift and he should keep it. I am not sure this really worked, lots of elven dialogue for language buffs though. Oh, and Liv does look great as ever. Just the whole Arwen leaving for the havens seems a pointless complication to their story, in what is already a complicated thread of different narratives.

Enter Brego the Wonder horse! He nudges Aragorn and lick his face, somehow he clambers onto Brego’s back and they stagger off together. Actually this scene is not that bad. I rather liked it, a nod to some old westerns I guess.

Meanwhile back in Fangorn, Treebeard is carrying the hobbits to the Entmoot. They catch a glimpse of Isengard and the huge army marching out. It truly is immense the whole valley is a shadow of column marching forth for war. It serves to remind Merry and Pippin of the danger their friends are in. Fangorn itself is very good, early on we see it at night all creeping ivy and ferns, now we see a somewhat fantastical forest in a kind of parallax effect. It is all done very well and gives the forest a very magical feel, though not cheesy.

Back to Rivendell with Elrond trying to convince Arwen to come with her people. It is a good performance by Hugo Weaving as relates in harsh words that Aragorn will die and she will be left bereaved, alone and will lose everything. We see a vsion of a deceased Aragorn on death bed, with a sculpture replacing his aged body. A bit about his splendour beign revealed. Straight from the appendices. He even asks her, “what about your love for me”. Quite touching and she relents and tears flow down her face. We see her leaving Rivendell in a procession of hooded and lantern bearing elves. Elrond watches from his balcony. At this point he is speaking telepathically with Galadriel. They explain what is going on to us a little and that the men of Middle-earth are in for rough time. For some reason I don’t have great recollection of this part of the movie…

Aragorn is now a little recovered and spots Saruman’s army marching across Rohan he rides dramatically to Helm’s Deep. A great shot of him pulling up just across the valley form the fortress. He rides in and the people gather round him. Gimli hugs him and Legolas gives him back the Evenstar. Eowyn looks pleased to see him but is too nervous to say or do much. He looks a little troubled. This is where Theoden really annoys me; he acts totally unlike the Theoden in the book. Shouting off about a lack of allies and dismissing Aragorn plea to send out riders. He is very smug about the safety of Helm’s Deep. Seems he is very bitter about his son’s death and almost says it too. We also learn that only 300 men defend the keep. A lot less than in the books and unrealistic to man a fortress of this size. Still the set looks great and although I dislike this new Theoden, Bernard Hill does a good job. My wife liked him!

The next part really builds the desperate nature of the situation they are in. We see young boys and old men press ganged into service. They really do look a sorry bunch. Interestingly, Legolas gets his only good lines in the movie here. He is shouting at Aragorn in elven, saying that they should be worried and afraid as they are all going to die. Aragorn shouts back in English,” then I will die with them” and storms off. Gimli looks bemused and tells Legolas to let him go. It certainly silences the room. A good scene I thought with some proper dialogue for Legolas and some real emotional interaction between the characters. Theoden also prepares for battle at this point; he chants the poem as per the trailer. It is well delivered and a powerful piece of cinema I think. We also se the refugees looking very scared in the caves. With another glimpse of the Jackson children, big eyed and scruffy. Nice touch but a little obvious as one of them is quite memorable from Fellowship. Still you cannot begrudge him giving them a part in what is a work that is taking up a good chunk of his directing life.

Then a horn sounds…does Legolas say, “That is no Orc horn”. I hope he didn’t I can’t remember. Anyway Haldir shows up with a column of well drilled elves. Now they look great and all, but having them at Helm’s Deep is a cheap shot I think. A chance to see some elves fighting etc. He says some terrible line about renewing old alliances and they all salute Theoden. I sat in disbelief, but don’t worry I am sure you will get over it. Really, with this movie you have to depart from the book and just enjoy it. It has so many changes, some good and some bad, that if you don’t, you will miss out.

They all take there positions on the walls and we wait. Over the brow of the slope thousands of torches appear, rain starts and things look grim for the beleaguered people of Rohan. Théoden is still confident though not doing much of a job leading his men. Aragorn takes that role and forms up the defenses. The advancing Uruk-hai stop just at a long bow shot away from the wall.

Silence………….then they simultaneously start stomping their spears and pikes. This is amazing stuff, it makes your hari stand up on the back of your neck. I have never seen such a truly awesome scene, the atmosphere is electric. Sadly they break the tension with more of Gimli’s humour, him being too small to see over the battlement, Legolas offers to get him a box. Funny yes, but I felt they broke the tension too soon. The defenders are poised with arrows drawn…one lets loose early (an old man) an orc falls. The Uruk-hai stop suddenly, then they charge. Carnage follows as ladders are thrown up and volleys of elven and Rohan arrows crash into the horde. Hundreds fall, yet just like the book it is just a few leaves in the forest of hate that is assaulting the fortress.

As they get close they let fly with their own missiles. A flurry of bolts kills not a few of the defenders, one unlucky elf plunges into the waiting pikes. Théoden mocks Saruman, “Is this all they have” he says. Not exactly wise words, at that moment an Olympian Uruk-hai berserker runs forward with two torches. The orcs having previously planted some rather large cauldrons of gunpowder in the culvert below the wall. Aragorn yells at Legolas, “take him down!”, “Kill him”. Legolas does his best, but for once he fails. The runner reaches the powder and BOOM! The wall explodes; men elves and orcs are blown all over the place. House sized chunks of rock crush both sides as though they were ants, I held my breath. Really this an astounding piece of film, epic and awe inspiring. You will be glued to the screen as the events unfold. Sure a few scenes look CG but overall the impression is of one hell of a battle. Easily the best battle I have ever seen on screen.

Anyway, I digress. The frantic scenes at Helm’s Deep are contrasted with the slow chanting of the ents at the moot. They have just decided that Merry and Pip are not orcs!!! This is played up for comic relief, though the new ents are excellent, all different types of trees and such. There is one scene with the stars twinkling overhead that really looked inspired.

Back at the battle Gimli finds himself lying in a puddle in front of the Uruk-hai who are now swarming through the gap blasted in the dyke. He tries to fight them off but slips. Aragorn orders the elves, who are now arrayed in front of the gap, to fire. Whoomp the arrows bite deep and Gimli escapes. Aragorn cries charge and they assault the orcs. What follows is a bloody affair with some gruesome deaths on both sides. They cannot hold Saruman’s army though and Théoden sounds a retreat to the keep. Aragorn shouts to Haldir who is fighting on the wall. He turns and at that moment is stabbed in the stomach, he looks in disbelief at the wound, another orcs hacks the back of his head and he falls. This is done in slow motion with Haldir looking at his fallen comrades. It is a good scene very dream like. Interesting to see the death of an elf portrayed from their own eyes. I did not feel any emotion for him though. But that is due to the lack of character development for him, it is still a great bit of the movie. Haldir you are forgiven for being slightly camp and for showing up at all!

Now we are back to the ents I think. Treebeard informs the hobbits…now get this… that they have decided that it nothing to do with them and they will weather the storm as they have always done. Hmmm…I will restrain myself.

The Uruk-hai now pour threw the gap and assault the gate, meanwhile the main gate is also under assault. The gate is close to breaking and Théoden gets wounded trying to hold them back. Aragorn arrives and asks how much time they need to get retreat. Théoden in his rather abrupt tone says as much as you can give us. Aragorn uses head and decides he and Gimli will go through the secret sally gate and attack the besiegers from the side. At the same time the orcs fire huge anchors over the walls and set up a pulley system to hall large siege towers up against the citadel. One unlucky defender gets squashed by one of these anchors. More comic relief with Gimli asking Aragorn to “toss him” over a large gap. It plays quite well though it is the very nod (that Jackson has so many times said he wanted to avoid) that says this is fantasy etc. Anyway he is thrown into the throng of orcs and he and Aragorn fight them off.

Back in the forest Pippin despairs and tells Merry they should go back to The Shire. Merry then retorts that they may have nothing to go back to! Treebeard is actually taking them north so that they can make their way home. Has he really spoken with Gandalf? Really this is senseless to anyone who has read the book. Pippin then has an idea, “take us South” he cries. Of course this leads then close to Isengard, when they step out of the forest we see the devastation that the industry of Saruman’s war machine has wrought. Acres of chopped and burnt woodland lie under the grey sky. Treebeard is deeply saddened and furious. He hooms and booms, about one hundred ents emerge from the woods.” Our business is with rock and stone” he says. He tells Merry and Pippin they may be the last march of the ents. They head for Isengard…

The following part of the movie is nothing short of stupendous and epic. Sure you can tell it is CGI and models. But what a sight, walls are rent asunder, pillars thrown about; orcs are squashed and kicked like footballs. Even Merry and Pippin get in on the action by killing a few with rocks. Saruman is shown grasping at the rails of his balcony in shock, very Hammereque, a bit melodramatic, but it works! Some of ents are killed, one is brought down with ropes and hacked to bits by axe men, and another is set alight with fire arrows, though he survives as the flood saves him. They then release the damn which has been built over the Isen and the bowl of Isengard is flooded. It is hard to describe this whole thing, crazy stuff, with hissing steam and collapsing structures. I loved it. Much praise is due here to Weta for pulling this off and for PJ for including it. The last thing we see is Treebeard bracing himself against the flood with Merry and Pippin clutching on for dear life.

Things are not going well for Rohan. They are now beaten back into inner fortress. A dull booming is constant as the orcs beat on the door. Behind in the caves we see the now terrified refuges clutching one another, even Eowyn looks scared. I think Aragorn orders that the woman and children should head for the mountains, though this is never followed up (maybe this was where Eowyn fought an Uruk-hai). Finally Théoden shows some mettle, he bids men sounds helms deep and vows to charge forth with Aragorn (who I think hears Gandalf’s words about the 5th day in his head). Gimli climbs the tower and winds the horn. It echoes through the valley and they show the huge pipes leading off it down the tower, I liked this bit a lot, nice detail. Just as the door is broken in they mount up and fall upon the enemy. The soundtrack soars as they scatter the orcs. Down the ramp with dozens of uruk-hai pushed over the side by the charging horsemen. Though there are only about 20 or so riders. They cut a path through the besieging army but things look grim.

Needless to say Gandalf shows up. A shining light on the slope above the battle, he and hundreds of Eomer's riders charge down the mountain side. It is a steep slop, 70 degrees or so, but they thunder towards the waiting pikes. I thought to myself not very sound tactics…however, at the last moment Gandalf uncovers the light within him and the orcs drop their pikes and panic. A slaughter ensues with orcs being spitted and killed all over the place. They defeat Saruman’s forces.

The climax of the battle is astounding, not too believable maybe, but this is grand fantasy. The very thing I love Tolkien for. Why be ashamed of amazing feats and courageous charges against the odds. The filming only enhances the effect with the camera panning down behind the riders as they break upon the spearmen. I loved it, how often do we get to see stuff like this anywhere but in our imagination…never. I felt like cheering!

Now we end with the hot potato as it were. Faramir has taken the captive hobbits to Osgiliath. The city looks good and suitably ruinous. Orcs are assaulting it with catapults and we see various Gondorian soldiers (in plate) firing back and such. Faramir orders his men to take the hobbits to Denethor. “Tell him I send him a great prize” he says. However, just then a wraith on a winged steed shows up. The men panic and take cover; Faramir pushes the hobbits to safety against a wall and tries to keep order. Gollum is whimpering in a corner, obviously terrified by the proximity of the Nazgul. Then a very odd thing happens (purists, if you are still reading this, get ready to despair). Frodo is seen, under the will of the Nazgul, to climb the stairs onto the battlements. There he holds up the Ring for the hovering wraith. Just as the steed it is about to grab him in its jaws Sam pushes him to the side and they tumble down the stairs. Faramir shoots an arrow at the beast and it wheels away. As they tumble in to a heap a crazed Frodo whips out sting and goes to kill Sam. Sam pleads with him and his free will returns. It is quite intense.

Thereafter Sam tells Faramir that his brother died because he tried to take the Ring. Finally he sees his mistake and orders them to be released. Even though, as one of his men reminds him, his life will be forfeit under Gondor’s law.

Now many people will hate Faramir, but I rather liked him. David Wenham puts in an edgy and dangerous performance. More like Aragorn in Bree ala the book than the milder Faramir, but it still works for me. Sure he is tempted by the Ring, but it seemed to me it was more a sense of duty to the laws of the land, quite matter of fact. In the end he does relent and shows his quality. I was more bothered by the altered Théoden than this. A very understated and mysterious portrayal, I enjoyed it.

The film draws to a close with Frodo, Gollum and Sam walking through the wood of Ithilien. Gollum is behind a tree talking to himself, we see Stinker re-immerge (due to Frodo’s betrayer at the pool). He decides he wants to kill them both, but worries about the “Fat Hobbit”. She might do it he whispers, she might…then we could takes the precious….

So there you have it in all its detail and complexity. I am sure I have mixed some thing up and missed some bits out but really it is a long film and fast paced. So much to take in, even after two viewing I cannot remember it all.

Conclusion

Did I like it, well, as I have stated in the comments above, some parts I loved and other less so. As a movie it is without equal in the genre, even as a war film it stands up against some of the best. Though perhaps too much comic relief prevents it spreading its dark wings too much. Which is a pity as a darker film would have done more justice to the fine cast and amazing scenes, as well as Tolkien’s books. Non books reader will love it, my wife though it was great, she though the Fellowship was so so, but too long. With this she hardly noticed the time going by and was enthralled. It is epic, sweeping and dripping in grandeur; it delivers on the hype in a big way.

There are no really bad bits in the movie as such. But some of the changes are to its detraction. There are some great additional scenes and dialogue, but Théoden disappointed me in a big way. Some of the cheesier moments also made me cringe, like the exorcism and some of Haldir’s lines. Faramir I liked a lot and the scene with Grima and Eowyn is pure genius! Gandalf does not shine in this movie though; Ian McKellan puts in a good performance I guess, but nothing remarkable.

Viggo really smoulders here; he comes into his own and dominates both the battlefield and the screen. The hobbits are all good with Sam getting the bulk of the lines. Legolas does not say much at all, they really need to develop him I think. Gimli as I have mentioned throughout is played for comic relief. It works up to a point but breaks the tension just once to often. The supporting cast all do well with steady performances form Liv, Hugo and company.

The show stealer is Andy Serkis. I cannot talk enough about this man. Sure the CG work is good, but it still looks CG. The thing that makes Gollum hypnotic is the voice and actions played out by Serkis. I was mesmerized by him, frolicking, laughing, snarling, bounding…my god I can truly say that I have never witnessed anything like it. Indeed the audience laughed at many inappropriate points just due to the strangeness of his screen presence and actions.

I enjoyed this far more than The Fellowship of the Ring and even my favourite fantasy film, Excaliber. It delivered what it promised and even purists will enjoy it if they go in with the right mind set.

My final words would be it is not perfect but you will never see anything like it again…..until Return of the King of course.

Fatty

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