Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
2002
****½
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Bernard Hill, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Miranda Otto, David Wenham, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, Andy Serkis

While Frodo and Sam continue their journey with the ring, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli track Merry and Pippin, and end up escorting the people of Rohan to Helm's Deep, where they face a fierce battle against the Orcs. The middle part of the trilogy is a lovely fantasy epic, but since it offers so much misery without relief, it doesn't work quite as well as a standalone piece. At times, it also struggles to find a satisfactory rhythm with the three parallel storylines. However, the visual look is dazzling and Gollum in particular is an incredible creation, The film won two technical Oscars. The story concludes in The Return of the King.