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Ok.. I really didn't want to do this, but after reading a few of your posts I had to say what I thought of Two Towers. I am a big fan of LoTR.. and I may come across as geeky..
Guess what? I dont give a shit
First of all, it's a good movie. For those who have not read the books it's a great movie. Peter has said that this one departs from the books more than the others and that is certainly true in some parts of the tale but not all. I think The Fellowship of the Ring is a better movie. That may be in part because it was the first in the series and anticipation was very high and what we saw in 2001 was amazing. Now that I know what these movies are like, perhaps I take certain things for granted and thus am not as awed by this movie as I may have been if it had been the first.
Now, with that said, I will not detail the entire movie in this opening post if at all. I'll just put down the things that struck me while I watched.
THINGS THAT WORKED:
1. The Balrog/Gandalf Battle- Awesome. Can't wait for more in the Extended version (if there is more). A+
2. Sam and Frodo in Mordor- Although PJ skipped the rope scene (again, Extended version may have this) and failed to bring us closer to the ending of the Ring Quest in the book of The Two Towers, I thought both Elijah Wood and Sean Astin were excellent and that the part of the Quest that was shown was true to the book and very well done. A-
3. Gollum/Smeagol- the CGI of Gollum is totally believable. The conversations he has with him self are simply brillant! Gollum steals the show. A+
4. Helm's Deep- the battle sequence is not only exciting it is also very true to the book, down to the last detail. It did not matter to me that much that Elves were there to fight along side Men. A
5. Gandalf the White- terrific performance by Ian McKellen. The scene where the Three Hunters meet the White Wizard is so well done. A
6. The Healing of Theoden- the transformation before your eyes is stunning and the look on Eowyn's face is very emotional. PJ puts Saruman inside Theoden's mind and we see Saruman knocked to the floor when Gandalf forces his staff into Theoden. An interesting addition by PJ and for me it worked. A-
7. The Storming of Isengard- excellent! the Ents shine here. A
8. Eomer and the Riders of Rohan- While I don't understand why Eomer is not at Helm's Deep, the whole culture of the Rohirrim was handled very well. However, the eored should have more men. B+
9. Oliphants- holy cow, they are "ginormous"! A
10. Coneys- line for line perfect out of Stewed Rabbits chapter. Po--ta--toes A+
11. Eowyn- I love how Miranda Otto performs this character favorite. A
12. The Orcs- these creatures are getting more disgusting and frightening as we go. Yikes! A
13. The Score- was the movie made around the music or the music made to fit the movie? I could not tell, it simply blends in so well. It's uncanny. B+
14. The Forbidden Poll- I must be a purist at heart because this is the only scene about Faramir that I liked. True to the book and tells you so much about how and why Stinker takes over Slinker. A
15. Gimli/Legolas- great performances, I want more. A
16. Grima Wormtongue- again, a superb performance and no changes to character, thankfully.
THINGS THAT DID NOT WORK:
1. Faramir- brutal destruction of a Tolkien favorite. Where is the wisdom? Where is the integrity? Lost in an over-simplification of Men in Middle Earth. He's mean and a little slow in the head. Taking the Ring to Gondor was uncalled for. Having Frodo almost loose the Ring to a flying Nazgul before Faramir realizes his folly is unforgivable. At times, Faramir appears to be thoughtful but not in a good way. C-
2. Treebeard- a nice attempt but the eyes are wrong, the voice is not deep enough and the whole look is, well, not what I had in mind. PJ and co. did not capture Treebeard. C+
3. The Entmoot- What? They decide not to go to war? And then it's up to Merry and Pippin to convince Treebeard? No. I know what they are trying to do here (build up the hobbits) but not at the expense of the story. C
4. Rohan- where is the tall grass swaying in the breeze like a sea of grain? Just a minor point really. B
5. Edoras- I liked the Golden Hall but the entire town looks extremely small. B
6. What Should Have Been The End- no hourns? no Voice of Saruman? no Palantir? no Crossroads? no Stairs? no WitchKing?
I knew that there was not going to be anything with Shelob. But I was expecting 2 chapters to be cut-off, not 8!! B-
7. Aragorn's Fall- huh? This is one of those things that bothers us purists! Why add something that does not help the story while cutting out chapters from the book? Nothing against Aragorn here at all. The performance is top-notch. Aragorn is much more forceful now. Still, why have a Warg scene cut from FOTR and then added to TT and why have Aragorn appear to die? D
OK, I'm done for now. It's a fine film. The books are better, we know that. All in all, a good try at it. The goods better be delivered in ROTK, that's all I have to say. Peter Jackson has left much to be told.
If you have read all of that.. I commend you
Guess what? I dont give a shit
First of all, it's a good movie. For those who have not read the books it's a great movie. Peter has said that this one departs from the books more than the others and that is certainly true in some parts of the tale but not all. I think The Fellowship of the Ring is a better movie. That may be in part because it was the first in the series and anticipation was very high and what we saw in 2001 was amazing. Now that I know what these movies are like, perhaps I take certain things for granted and thus am not as awed by this movie as I may have been if it had been the first.
Now, with that said, I will not detail the entire movie in this opening post if at all. I'll just put down the things that struck me while I watched.
THINGS THAT WORKED:
1. The Balrog/Gandalf Battle- Awesome. Can't wait for more in the Extended version (if there is more). A+
2. Sam and Frodo in Mordor- Although PJ skipped the rope scene (again, Extended version may have this) and failed to bring us closer to the ending of the Ring Quest in the book of The Two Towers, I thought both Elijah Wood and Sean Astin were excellent and that the part of the Quest that was shown was true to the book and very well done. A-
3. Gollum/Smeagol- the CGI of Gollum is totally believable. The conversations he has with him self are simply brillant! Gollum steals the show. A+
4. Helm's Deep- the battle sequence is not only exciting it is also very true to the book, down to the last detail. It did not matter to me that much that Elves were there to fight along side Men. A
5. Gandalf the White- terrific performance by Ian McKellen. The scene where the Three Hunters meet the White Wizard is so well done. A
6. The Healing of Theoden- the transformation before your eyes is stunning and the look on Eowyn's face is very emotional. PJ puts Saruman inside Theoden's mind and we see Saruman knocked to the floor when Gandalf forces his staff into Theoden. An interesting addition by PJ and for me it worked. A-
7. The Storming of Isengard- excellent! the Ents shine here. A
8. Eomer and the Riders of Rohan- While I don't understand why Eomer is not at Helm's Deep, the whole culture of the Rohirrim was handled very well. However, the eored should have more men. B+
9. Oliphants- holy cow, they are "ginormous"! A
10. Coneys- line for line perfect out of Stewed Rabbits chapter. Po--ta--toes A+
11. Eowyn- I love how Miranda Otto performs this character favorite. A
12. The Orcs- these creatures are getting more disgusting and frightening as we go. Yikes! A
13. The Score- was the movie made around the music or the music made to fit the movie? I could not tell, it simply blends in so well. It's uncanny. B+
14. The Forbidden Poll- I must be a purist at heart because this is the only scene about Faramir that I liked. True to the book and tells you so much about how and why Stinker takes over Slinker. A
15. Gimli/Legolas- great performances, I want more. A
16. Grima Wormtongue- again, a superb performance and no changes to character, thankfully.
THINGS THAT DID NOT WORK:
1. Faramir- brutal destruction of a Tolkien favorite. Where is the wisdom? Where is the integrity? Lost in an over-simplification of Men in Middle Earth. He's mean and a little slow in the head. Taking the Ring to Gondor was uncalled for. Having Frodo almost loose the Ring to a flying Nazgul before Faramir realizes his folly is unforgivable. At times, Faramir appears to be thoughtful but not in a good way. C-
2. Treebeard- a nice attempt but the eyes are wrong, the voice is not deep enough and the whole look is, well, not what I had in mind. PJ and co. did not capture Treebeard. C+
3. The Entmoot- What? They decide not to go to war? And then it's up to Merry and Pippin to convince Treebeard? No. I know what they are trying to do here (build up the hobbits) but not at the expense of the story. C
4. Rohan- where is the tall grass swaying in the breeze like a sea of grain? Just a minor point really. B
5. Edoras- I liked the Golden Hall but the entire town looks extremely small. B
6. What Should Have Been The End- no hourns? no Voice of Saruman? no Palantir? no Crossroads? no Stairs? no WitchKing?
I knew that there was not going to be anything with Shelob. But I was expecting 2 chapters to be cut-off, not 8!! B-
7. Aragorn's Fall- huh? This is one of those things that bothers us purists! Why add something that does not help the story while cutting out chapters from the book? Nothing against Aragorn here at all. The performance is top-notch. Aragorn is much more forceful now. Still, why have a Warg scene cut from FOTR and then added to TT and why have Aragorn appear to die? D
OK, I'm done for now. It's a fine film. The books are better, we know that. All in all, a good try at it. The goods better be delivered in ROTK, that's all I have to say. Peter Jackson has left much to be told.
If you have read all of that.. I commend you
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