The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Directed by Peter Jackson. Starring Viggo Mortensen, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom, Bernard Hill, Ian McKellen, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Miranda Otto, Brad Dourif, David Wenham, Karl Urban, Christopher Lee, Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Craig Parker. [PG-13]

Towering continuation of the epic fantasy story started with The Fellowship of the Ring finds the fellowship broken, with Frodo and Sam encountering the pathetic creature Gollum (played by Serkis in a landmark motion-capture performance), whose heart has been poisoned for years by the One Ring and plots to steal it back from the Hobbits. Meanwhile, Hobbits Merry and Pippin join ancient tree-like creature, Treebeard, on the march to the enemy tower at Isengard, and the other surviving heroes trek to the kingdom of Rohan and help the people there mount a desperate defense against wizard Saruman’s army at the fortress of Helm’s Deep. The best entry in the trilogy (by a hair) does drag a bit in the midsection, and suffers from some of the typical “middle chapter” drawbacks, but is such a gripping story told with great sweep and fierce humanity, balancing thunderous action and chest-tightening emotion in ways rarely seen anywhere else in cinema. The split-personality battle being waged within Gollum’s twisted mind is the most devastatingly tragic and psychologically compelling facet of the trilogy, while the colossal siege of Helm’s Deep is one of the greatest action sequences to ever reach the big screen. In addition to playing dwarf Gimli, Rhys-Davies also voiced Treebeard. Oscar winner for Best Sound Editing and Visual Effects. The extended edition released on home video runs about 45 minutes longer.

91/100