Sky-high Two Towers

Lord of the Rings is an unbridled visual and emotional spectacle, with each scene an increasingly dazzling display of state-of-the art technology, enthralling plot, and skilled acting. It is a success on every level and in every sense; it encompasses virtually every film genre, from comedy to drama to action-adventure, and appeals to every type of moviegoer. The secret? One director's majestic vision of a literary master's tall tales.

Director Peter Jackson takes three undeniably great novels, full of charismatic characters and large-scale adventures, and molds them-- carefully, delicately, with the skilled touch of a long-time Rings reader—into a big screen picture that transcends space and time. Lord of the Rings is the only one out of a recent influx of fantasy-type films (Nemesis, Harry Potter) that truly transports viewers to someplace where the line between good and evil is a little bit clearer, where mankind has a little more dignity, and life—though harsh—has a distinctly noble purpose.

Simply stunning New Zealand landscapes and fascinatingly realistic digital technology complete Jackson's vision of Middle-Earth as a world that now exists in more than just Tolkien readers' imagination, but on physical rolls of film. Tragic, that such beauty should be sullied in so much blood—and that somewhat intangible feeling of loss, of sympathy for a world not our own is what makes this film surpass mere fantasy and become legend.

Then there's the story itself, which in addition to being interesting, is both thought-provoking and meaningful. Explaining the plot, however, is a bit less fun (read the books).

Opening where The Fellowship of the Rings left off, The Two Towers follows the three diverging plot lines of the broken fellowship. First is Hobbit Team 1, of Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Sam Gamgee (Sean Astin), who, despite being the most important team (continuing on the basic quest to destroy the Ring of all evil), are easily the most boring. I mean, come on, how much of Elijah Wood's two faces must we endure? There's the "Omigod" face—you know, the slightly frowning eyebrows, widened eyes, and half-open mouth— and then there's the "I'm-pretending-to-be-happy-but-am-holding-an-object-of-indescribable-evil face"—which is fairly grotesque, involving a half-smile covering the "Omigod" look. Frodo's a hard part, and Wood's not a bad actor—just very, very irritatingly whiny at times.

So Frodo and Sam are headed toward Mordor, home of evil lord in evil tower 1, Sauron, to cast the ring into the fires of Mt. Doom, yada yada yada, read the books. Their fascinating footpad Gollum is hot on their trail, however, and soon makes his move. Rather than killing the critter, the hobbits take him in as their guide—thankfully, since he ups the entertainment level of this group significantly.

Meanwhile, Hobbit Team 2, of the ever-jolly Merry (Dominic Monoghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), is in the hands of the orcs of evil lord in evil tower 2, Saruman (Christopher Lee). After pitched battle ensues between the orcs and a group of good horsemen locals—they're in the horse country of Rohan, incidentally—the two hobbits escape into the deep, dark Fangorn forest. There they encounter the Ents, powerful tree people (who, contrary to the erstwhile spectacular digital animation, look like deranged skeletons with some branches stuck on hapharzadly) who wish to remain uninvolved in the wars wracking middle earth. So Merry and Pippin's goal is to convince the Ents to aid in the fight against Saruman.

And, finally, there's the third team—my personal favorite—of ancient king descendant Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson), elf lord Legolas (Orlando Bloom), and hearty dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies).

This team starts out looking for their hobbit companions Merry and Pippin but is soon distracted by the appearance of Rohan's prince Eomer. Eomer tells them of troubles in Rohan and of the battle with the Orcs in which the men "left none alive". Distracted from their original quest, the three companions are soon given another task as Gandalf reappears (don't worry, we found out in the beginning he wasn't dead). Now four, the group heads to the castle of Rohan to rescue the aging king Theoden from Saruman's insidious influence and to protect the country from the pending Orc invasion.

Confusing and complicated? Definitely (read the books). But the story is so well-thought-out and such a masterpiece of intertwined destinies that the complexity is actually a positive attribute. There aren't enough complimentary adjectives to fully praise this modern spectacle of fantasy. But just one final comment: read the books.