B
See The Return of the King review.
Ok, Tolkien fans, the review below is well enough; but if you want a truly hilarious, erudite essay on the subject, please check out Andrew Rilstone's review.
First impressions
Let me begin by saying that The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a wonderful movie. Last night, in a packed theatre at an 11:59p showing, the film captivated a tired, sleepy audience. Several times applause broke out spontaneously. The Two Towers is definitely another success for Peter Jackson, as once again Middle Earth has come to life on the silver screen.
One of the most notable achievements is Gollum, the ancient halfing corrupted and given unnaturally long life by the One Ring. Played by Andy Serkis, with the aid of brilliant CG work from special effects company WETA Digital, Gollum steals the show. It's impossible not to react to the mixture of fear, hatred, and poignant longing. Serkis successfully captured Tolkien's sense of both the comedy and tragedy of Gollum's character and situation.
What price romance?
Still, as a longtime LOTR fan, there were plot changes in The Two Towers which I did not understand. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Jackson made several story changes, all of which were comprehensible in light of the movie format. For example, an elf named Glorfindel is combined with the character of Arwen (Liv Tyler), so that it is Arwen who comes to the aid of Strider/Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and the hobbits as they make their way to Rivendell. Some plot lines were deleted, and explanatory information from the appendices is included to further the audience's understanding of the characters.
In The Two Towers, I had the feeling that Jackson's normally strong editing choices were compromised by more than pacing and time. Several changes significantly altered major plot lines, and some additions did not seem to add to the story itself.
For example, in the books, Arwen and Aragorn are in love, and this leaves Arwen with a terrible choice: should she cleave to the man she loves, becoming mortal, or leave Middle Earth with her father for an immortal life across the sea? Elrond (Hugo Weaving) understandably does not want his daughter to die, and tells Aragorn, the long-lost heir to the thrones of Gondor and Eriador, that his daughter will not lose her life for anything less than a king. Aragorn works long and hard towards this goal, finally achieving both his throne and his wife. Along the way, Eowyn (Miranda Otto), a princess of Rohan, falls in love with him and is gently but firmly rejected. This contributes to a general despair at her situation, causing her to recklessly throw herself into battle.
In the film, Arwen not only considers the option of leaving Middle Earth, she actually begins the journey to the Grey Havens, where the elven ships depart. Both Aragorn and her father persuade her to do this. While in Rohan, Aragorn does not encourage Eowyn's attention, but he does not discourage it, either, and tells her his love has left for "the undying lands." An inserted (not from Tolkien) scene in which Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) believe Aragorn to be killed allows an extended interlude of discussions about this between Aragorn and Arwen, Elrond and Arwen, and a telepathic exchange from Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) to Elrond, in which she recaps her opinion of the fading world, soon to be ruled by weak humans, already eloquently expressed in The Fellowship of the Ring.
Some might argue that this provides explanatory information for people who did not see the first film. But Jackson himself has stated that he wanted to continue the story as Tolkien did, from the point he left off in the last film. He even went so far as to suggest that those who had not seen The Fellowship of the Ring or read the books would probably not profit from seeing The Two Towers. So that's not the reason.
Likewise, with a segment that interrupts an action-packed story, already busily balancing numerous separate, concurrent plot lines, Jackson cannot say that this was in aid of pacing. The feeling I had was that this was inserted solely for the purpose of allowing screen time for Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, and Hugo Weaving, and adding more of a romantic interest. Nothing was added to the main story, and in fact some character development was abandoned. It sticks out like a sore thumb, much as the romance in naval thriller The Caine Mutiny seems unsuited to the story - and in fact was not in the book. Has Hollywood been making decisions here?
Elves at Helm's Deep?
There are other small differences which didn't seem to add to the story:
- In the book, while the battle of Helm's Deep does include
the elf Legolas and the dwarf Gimli, the brunt of the struggle is between
the people of Rohan and the minions of Saruman - including some deceived
men. Later, in The Return of the King, Elrond's sons, along
with some of Aragorn's people, come from the North to join in the battle
against Mordor. In the movie, though, an entire company of Elves arrives
in the nick of time to aid in the battle, for no apparent reason except
to make the point, already made by the composition of the fellowship
in the first movie, that elves are participating along with all the
other free races of Middle Earth.
- In The Fellowship of the Ring, Boromir
(Sean Bean) tries to take the ring from Frodo by force. He soon regrets
this. This incident leads to some brief mistrust and concern when Frodo
meets Faramir (David Wenham), Boromir's younger brother. This is very
brief, for almost immediately upon discovering Frodo's burden (through
a slip of the tongue by Sam), Faramir assures Frodo he will not take
the ring. "Not if I found it by the roadside would I take it," he says,
and stands by that.
In the film, Faramir seems almost as ensnared by the ring as Boromir had been. He discovers its presence by intimidating Gollum. He immediately declares he is taking Frodo to Gondor, and it's clear that he wants its power used on behalf of his country. An exceptionally ethical character who is a friend of Gandalf's is transformed into a repetition of his brother, in a plot line where the contrast between the two brothers is crucial, particularly in the third book.
- In the book King Theoden of Rohan (Bernard Hill) is misled and confused by the words of Saruman (Christopher Lee), spoken through his agent, Wormtongue (Brad Dourif). After speaking with Gandalf, of his own will Theoden throws off the shackles of this deception. Wormtongue likewise is given a choice - stay and redeem himself by fighting beside his lord, or return to Saruman and declare himself a traitor.
For some inexplicable reason, the film decides to portray Theoden's befuddlement as a kind of possession, with Gandalf magically performing an exorcism. Wormtongue is driven out with absolutely no choice in the matter. The concept of free will, so important throughout the books, is abandoned for these characters.
Good choices
Please don't get me wrong - there are many changes and additions which enhance the film. One notable addition is the tracking of one family across Rohan, as the forces of Saruman invade. This ties a complicated story line together nicely, doesn't take up much space, and is in keeping with the rest of the plot. The handling of Frodo, Sam, and Gollum's journey to Mordor is beautifully done and extremely accurate. And while initially I wondered at it, Treebeard's being shown ravaged trees by the hobbits Merry and Pippin provides a simple, explanatory catalyst for the attack of the Ents upon Isengard.
Overall, the movie is excellent. But fans should not expect it to match the faithfulness to Tolkien shown by The Fellowship of the Ring. I hope that Jackson is back on track for the final chapter, due Christmas, 2003.
December 18, 2002
