A great movie that disappoints the tolkien fan - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Reviews

The 2T is a serious departure from the book. Departures that could not be explained by time interests or plot concerns that have resulted in twists of plot so serious that RotK is unlikely to follow the book very closely either. It is still a great movie, but not in the way the Fellowship is. It lacks character development in particular, especial the characters of Aragorn, Frodo and Faramir. Aragorn is supposed to be coming to his own. He early on in the book is questioning his leadership choices, but with the return of Gandalf he reaches a maturity in leadership that demonstrates his true kingly pedigree. This will be most deveolped in RotK but should already have begun to manifest itself more. Instead he is presented as reckless and lucky, neither of which truly characterize the shrewed ranger of the Numenorian line. Frodo is also a maturing character. He becomes more reliant on Sam's strength, but is always the wiser of the two. Such is not the case in the 2T Movie. In the book Frodo reaching the place of being possessed by the ring, but by this point he knows he can't trust it -- He will not yield to it, he will not entrust himself to it, he knows it will betray him. Frodo in the movie is flat. There is no acting, just a kind of aimless wandering. Near the beginning of the movie he is directive, but he very quickly looses himself. In the book he looses strength, but not wisdom. This is most evident in the scene with Faramir. In the book there is a marvelous dialogue between Frodo and Faramir, where Frodo demonstrates his greater wisdom over Sam in his shrewd dealings with Faramir. At the same time, Faramir demonstrates his own capacity to read between the lines and figures out what is going on. This does not happen in the movie. Instead Faramir packs Frodo on to Osgiliath where the presence of the ring is betrayed to the Witch King of the Nazgul destroying the whole plot line of the book. In the book, an event not yet revealed in the movies, but which I anticipate will be shown in the RotK, Pippin draws the attention of Sauron from Minas Tirith to Isengaard by looking into the Palantir that Saurumon possessed and which had been thrown out of the tower at Gandalf by Grima Wormtongue. This incident has the effect of drawing Sauron's attention and of making it possible for Frodo and Sam to slip into Mordor undetected. The fabricated scene with Frodo standing before the Nazgul revealing the ring would make this whole matter somewhat superfluous. Sauron could not now be made to think the ring was far off, he would know it was on his front gate. There is much made of Aragorn and Arwen in the 2T movie, none of which is in the actual story. Especially the tension between Elrond the half-elven and Aragorn. In the Tolkien version, Elrond willing gives Arwen on the condition that he fulfill his duty as king and claim his throne. There is not premature departure of Arwen for the Grey Havens from which a future chapter will no need to reverse. There is no angst, as Elrond was Aragorn's guardiand and the keeper of Narsil,Aragorn's sword. Narsil is the sword that was broken in the battle 3000 years previously and the broken sword was used by Isildor, Aragorn's ancestral father, to cut the ring from Sauron's hand. This sword was reforged in the Fellowship book, though not the movie, and renamed Anduril, Flame of the West by Aragorn. Part of the fear that Aragorn will inflict upon Sauron and his forces is that he bears the sword that was broken but which is now reforged. It is a thread that runs through the whole book, including the revelation of Aragorn at in of the Prancing Pony in the Bree, in the Fellowship (the book, not the movie). Getting back on track, the scenes with Arwen are entirely excess. They have no purpose or value in advancing the plot of either Aragorn or Frodo's story and are not in the book. While Liv Tyler is pleasant to look at, her performance offered nothing but beauty for the eye and a distraction from the true movement of the story. It seem that Jackson feels that story won't sell if there's not a love scene in it. Tsk, tsk. Gimli is turned into a failed comic, with his trite one line wise cracks he is devalued as a character. The true realtionship between he and Legolas that develops after their stay at Lothlorien is entirely overlooked. And the loss of the hosts of Lothlorien at Helm's deep was a bizarre twist. Why introduce all those elves? There was in truth only one elf at Helm's Deep, and Legolas was his name-O. The visual effects were awesome to say the least, the direction was clearly of the highest order. The result is an awesome movie, but given the departures from Tolkien, it has lost its greatness. The changes are most evident in the lack of character development, which is the one thing that the actors claimed the movie was supposed to present, a further development of the characters. The movie's shift from character to action moves it out of the category of a great drama into the realm of an action flick. The taste of the movie is thus somewhat mixed. Recognizing the greatness of the movie in its own right is one thing, but facing the departures from an even greater story sours it not just a little. Finally, the overall message of the trilogy is not lost, at least not yet. We can only hope that RotK will continue to develop the theme of evil and good in at least the same measure at the Fellowship and the 2T. The lure of evil is certainly strong in our own society, and the promise that evil will be vanquished and good will win out is worth serious reflection. Tolkien writes as Christian for Christians; in his own words: he writes an English myth that will be intellible for those who love the blessed Trinity. He has thus an unmistakable Christian belief that Christ will conquer his foes and righteousness will prevail. This meta-narrative is expessed mythically in the LotR. Even if the religious nature of Tolkien's message is lost in the cinematic versions, having our hearts and minds drawn into the deeper issues of right and wrong and the conflicts of good and evil and darkness and light is a worthwhile exercise, even if it must be by Sam's somewhat artifical closing speech. Tolkien is worthy of a much greater effort than the 2T demonstrates, but one which was very nearly delivered in the FotR.