It was a risky decision to film three epic fantasy adventure films simultaneously; risky but rewarding. After all, by doing so, it allowed for a level of continuity that couldn’t be achieved otherwise. It also allowed for the three films to have yearly releases instead of every 2-3 years to allow time for writing, filming, and post-production. For films on the level of The Lord of the Rings, 2-3 years between films would be a tight schedule, one that many of the creative forces behind the project might not be willing to commit to. As it stood, filming the trilogy took more than fourteen months of intense, simultaneous principal photography, not including the pick-up shots that were ongoing, even after the third film had hit theaters. Director Peter Jackson joked that the third film in the trilogy, The Return of the King, was the only film to still be filming when it won the Best Picture Oscar. This is, of course, in reference to the extended cuts of the films that would be released on home video, adding about another three hours to the entire trilogy.
The Two Towers, the middle film in this trilogy, had to overcome what many other trilogies faced: middle chapter syndrome. The middle third of a trilogy often has the problem of not having a beginning or an ending, especially if the trilogy is just one long story broken up into three parts. The novel, by J. R. R. Tolkien, was famously written as one book and split up by the publishers who feared the great length would discourage readers. By not being written with the idea of a trilogy in mind, that means that as each of the first two books simply ends without any real resolution. When the books were filmed by Peter Jackson, this stumbling block had to be taken into consideration. For some, mainly non-fans of the novels, this made the first film a disappointment, and I know people who bailed out on the series at that point because of it.
The Two Towers has the same problem but to a lesser degree. The movie assumes you have seen the first film and does little to catch you up. Instead, it thrusts you back into the action right where the last one left off. It also ends on an ambiguous note, with hints of where the story is going. But, unlike The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers has a major obstacle that needs to be defeated, and the film’s climax wraps that one up nicely, giving audiences a sense of accomplishment that the first film didn’t have. It’s also darker in tone and has a greater focus on action spectacle, which makes it an easier film to casually go back to.
We pick things back up with a brief scene from the last film where Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) fights the Balrog in the mines of Moria. But this time, we see more of what actually happened as we watch the two plunge into the depths of the mine while Gandalf fights back. Later, we will get even more of this battle, but this brief prologue tells us something that the last film didn’t: Gandalf didn’t fall to his death in that battle.
Meanwhile, the Fellowship of the Ring has been split up into three groups. The first of these is the Hobbits Sam (Sean Astin) and Frodo (Elijah Wood), who carry the ring of power with the intent to throw it into the lava inside Mount Doom, the only place that can destroy it forever. But as they travel, they are being stalked by a mysterious figure, Gollum (Andy Serkis), who is determined to get the ring for himself.
Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) are also Hobbits. When we last saw them, they were captured by Orcs and being carried back to their master as prisoners. These two escape after a troupe of riders for Rohan, the kingdom they are passing through, lays siege on the orcs, killing everything in sight. Merry and Pippin flee into the woods of Fangorn Forest, where they are picked up by one of the living trees, Ents, and carried to safety. But while the Ents have a great respect for the forest and a dislike for what the evil wizard Saruman the White (Christopher Lee) has been doing of late, they will need a great deal of convincing to join in the fight.
Lastly, there is Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), a man who is the rightful king of Gondor but feels he is not worthy of the birthright; Gimli the dwarf (John Rhys-Davies); and Legolas the elf (Orlando Bloom). These three begin the film tracking Merry and Pippin but end up diverted from that quest when they come across Gandalf the White, fresh from his battle with the Balrog and now gifted with the power of the White, no longer the dingy grey he once was. Gandalf steers them towards the kingdom of Rohan, whose King, Théoden (Bernard Hill), has been possessed by Saruman the White via his servant, the poison-tongued Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif), and leaves his kingdom exposed to the evil which is now running rampant over the land.
Freed of this curse, Théoden is advised to rally his men to fight back, but he chooses instead to fall back, taking the citizens to a mountainside stronghold, Helm’s Deep. There, he feels they will be safe from the armies of Saruman. But he is fleeing into a trap, one that Saruman is confident he can snap shut and rid him of the men of Rohan. Seeing this, Gandalf leaves behind Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas to defend Rohan while he seeks out Théoden’s nephew Éomer (Karl Urban) and his men to ride to the rescue should Helm’s Deep be overtaken.
While all of this is happening, Frodo and Sam capture Gollum and force him to show them the way through the lands of Moria and to Mount Doom. But along the way, they are captured by Faramir (David Wenham), the brother of Boromir (Sean Bean), a former member of their fellowship who fell in battle after trying to take the One Ring away from Frodo by force. Faramir is also enticed by the power of the Ring and seeks to bring it, along with Frodo and Sam, back to his father, the steward of Gondor. But doing so would almost certainly mean the Ring will fall back into the hands of its true master and mean the end for Middle-Earth.
The story of The Two Towers is just as complicated as The Fellowship of the Ring, with even more names and places that audiences will be expected to keep straight. For non-Lord of the Rings fans, this can be a daunting task. We have so many new characters thrown into the mix, as well as all the recurring characters. This film doesn’t hold your hands through it, either. It trusts that you have seen the first film and does little to get you up to speed. It assumes you have seen the first film and, even more, that you have seen the extended cut of the first film. This would carry over into the final film, too. By releasing these films in back-to-back-to-back years, it virtually guarantees that these films will be fresh on your mind as you enter theaters for the next chapter. If you were a casual viewer going into each of these, it is entirely possible you would not be able to keep up.
But despite dropping you back into the story mid-adventure, this film feels more of a whole than the first film. That is because there is a legitimate climax to The Two Towers that the previous film lacked. That is the amazingly realized battle of Helm’s Deep. This battle had to be nearly completely invented by Peter Jackson and his co-screenwriters, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Stephen Sinclair. The original novel dedicates little time to the real battle, leaving it up to the reader’s imagination. This battle is the centerpiece of The Two Towers and occupies much of the final third of the film. There are clichés galore during it, but it is so energetic and well shot that that doesn’t matter.
The battle for Helm’s Deep may be the climax of the film, but the lead-up to it, including the rather lengthy evacuation of the people of Rohan, is equally as exciting. Everything about this film feels epic in scope, and director Peter Jackson is proving why he was the right choice to bring this to the screen. Looking back on his film resume leading up to this, it’s amazing anyone was willing to invest in him on a scale this required. The results speak for themselves, but that isn’t something that can be easily envisioned in a pitch meeting.
The Two Towers, like the other films in this trilogy, takes full advantage of the exotic locals of New Zealand, showcasing the locals in a way never before seen from the Kiwi country. It transformed New Zealand into a tourist spot where Rings fans travel to spend the night in Hobbit holes or tour the sights of the filming. It also launched Weta Digital, a New Zealand-based effects shop, into the ranks of the top effects companies in the world, rivaling Industrial Light and Magic.
After The Fellowship of the Ring failed to win the Best Picture Oscar the previous year, it became obvious that the Academy was waiting to see how the whole trilogy came together before giving the award to Peter Jackson. That held up true when Chicago won Best Picture instead of The Two Towers. To some, this was an upset, but we knew the following year was going to be Peter Jackson’s year, and that turned out to be prophetic.
The Two Towers is all around a better picture than its predecessor. The pacing is better, the action set-pieces are better, and it isn’t weighed down by the world-building of Middle-Earth. It still has to deal with ending on uncertainty, but this time it feels like it has a proper ending while still teasing what is coming up next time. There is nothing inherently wrong with The Fellowship of the Ring, but if you went into it expecting a complete story, you were left wanting. The Two Towers doesn’t completely correct that course, but it is much more complete and gives you the ending The Fellowship lacked. Still, it is the middle chapter and has all the trappings that distinction has. But it is still a satisfying watch even if you are just watching this chapter alone.
Academy Award Nominations:
Best Picture: Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh, and Peter Jackson
Best Art Direction: Grant Major, Dan Hennah, and Alan Lee
Best Film Editing: Michael Horton
Best Sound: Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, and Hammond Peek
Best Sound Editing: Ethan Van der Ryn and Mike Hopkins (won)
Best Visual Effects: Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke (won)
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Release Date: December 18, 2002
Running Time: 179 Minutes
Rated PG-13
Starring: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, 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, and Andy Serkis
Directed by: Peter Jackson
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