The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
★★★★½ — The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
The second chapter in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved trilogy, The Two Towers arrived in December 2002 riding the enormous goodwill generated by The Fellowship of the Ring the previous year. Jackson, a New Zealander best known before this trilogy for low-budget splatter films like Braindead and the Oscar-winning Heavenly Creatures, had committed to shooting all three films back-to-back in New Zealand, a then-unusual gamble that gave the production a remarkable visual consistency across its three-year release run. The film presented particular technical challenges, most notably the creation of Gollum, a fully computer-generated character performed by Andy Serkis in a motion-capture role that pushed the boundaries of what digital effects houses (in this case, Weta Digital) could deliver at the time. The trilogy's total production and marketing investment ran into the hundreds of millions, and with this instalment grossing over $926 million worldwide, New Line Cinema's considerable risk was looking very well placed indeed.
The "worst" of the trilogy… but still an incredible film. The Two Towers does feel like the middle chapter, a bridge between two titans, but it's still packed with unforgettable moments. Helm’s Deep remains one of the greatest battle sequences ever put to screen. Gollum’s introduction as a fully fleshed-out character was groundbreaking, and the world just gets richer and deeper. It’s the slowest of the three and carries a bit of that "middle child" energy, but even at its "worst," The Two Towers is still a staggering achievement.
Rating: ★★★★½ | Year: 2002 | Watched: 2025-04-27
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More with Elijah Wood: Green Street Hooligans (2005) · The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) · The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
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