12-15-02 Latest News

Two Towers Reviews
sam @ 10:26 am EST

A few snippets from news stories across the world as The Two Towers rolls into town.

From MTV:- '"The Fellowship of the Ring," an amazement in itself, was nominated for 13 Academy Awards. (It won four.) But "The Two Towers" surpasses that previous epic in spectacle, passion and sheer technological astonishment. It sets new filmmaking standards that will be difficult to meet, let alone surpass. To say that it makes George Lucas' latter-day "Star Wars" films look like mere hand-puppetry would be an exaggeration; but it does suggest the scope of Jackson's achievement. "Towers" is a great adventure, a grand romance and an action movie of unrelenting kinetic invention.'

BBC Films:- 'The (following) action is too densely-layered to explain here, which makes the achievement of Jackson and his co-writers all the more impressive. This is a compact, flab-free adaptation of JRR Tolkien's complex, lengthy book, and it suffers little from following three simultaneous adventures.

The special effects, too, impress. Gollum is the first believable CG character, while the battle of Helm's Deep is one of the finest, most expansive combat sequences ever filmed.

The cast do well not to be swamped by the spectacle. Mortensen again excels as the square-jawed hero, while Rhys-Davies' dwarf provides welcome comic relief.

Unfortunately, with his every attempt at sincerity, Wood's Frodo still looks as though he's going to make a pass at his fellow hobbit Sam. However, Astin rises above this to give a standout performance.

It's his moving delivery of the inspirational, climactic monologue that gives heart to the spectacle and elevates a film it's easy to admire into one it's possible to love.'

And finally, Empire Magazine:- 'It may lack the first-view-thrill and natural dramatic shape of Fellowship, but this is both funnier and darker than the first film, and certainly more action-packed. An essential component of what is now destined to be among the best film franchises of all time. Roll on Christmas.'

Check out Empire's section on the Two Towers here

Sam