THE TWO TOWERS MOVIE REVIEWS
The Trouble With Frodo: Fragility in The Two Towers
by Jessica Burke First,
I will apologize if my review seems "hasty." I am in a mini-break
from finals and monstrous papers and I wanted to get a few things
off my chest. I will revise this at some point, but for now here's
a taste of my feelings on the film.
I saw The Two Towers for the second time this afternoon,
and I have to say that repeated viewings bring more appreciation
and awe of the sheer dedication of Peter Jackson and the entire
film Fellowship. However, what was Frodo's issue? For that matter,
what was Faramir's? Why is it necessary for Jackson to make these
two characters so thoroughly fragile?
I am not a "purist." Nor am I one of those mysterious "other" fans
some newbies have entitled "revisionist" --whatever the bloody hell
that means. I enjoy a good story, and without a doubt, The Two
Towers is an amazing story. But, Jackson himself said it was
a bridge to get to The Return of the King But this bridge
hasn't totally covered the gap. There is just too much ground to
cover in the next film, and I wonder if he can weather it or crack.
The Frodo issue: why doesn't he defend himself? Yes, he draws blade
to Gollum to defend Sam. Yet, Jackson has made Gollum an extension
of Frodo. Perhaps that is the reason why Frodo is such a wimp? It
is NOT Elijah Wood's acting skills either: he and all the actors
in The Two Towers are SUPERB. It is the character that appears
wanting. He runs away from the Ringwraiths on Weathertop and is
mincing in Mordor. Yes, how would I act if I literally had the weight
of the world around my shoulders? But, he is frail. Jackson plays
the three: Frodo, Sam, and Gollum as though they were each facets
of one person --each individually incomplete. Sam is the stamina,
he is the protector, he is the soldier who will continue. As he
says at the close of the film, he is the hero that has been given
so many opportunities to leave the quest, to go back home, to leave
things undone. Yet he doesn't. He must go one because that is what
is the "right thing to do." Frodo seems two-dimensional here. He
is on the brink of totally giving in to the Ring. If it weren't
for Sam pulling his hand away --both under the shrubbery and at
Osgiliath (what was UP with THAT BTW?)-- Frodo would have succumbed
and gone over to the proverbial Dark Side. In the book he only gets
this close when actually in Mordor: when at Mount Doom. He
is at constant battle with the Ring, but he doesn't offer himself
to the Wraiths! Gollum is the most complex character in terms of
the Mordor segments of the film. He is seemingly stricken with a
multiple personality disorder. Which makes for some audience fun
and a new slant on an old character. But, this makes him a touch
comical...and gives him a pathos that I hadn't expected.
Faramir totally pisses me off though. Or, for that matter, Jackson's
interpretation of him. I am biased because he is one of my favorites.
He is likened to Gandalf. He is of the same cloth. So, WHY would
he take the hobbits to his father? And how do they travel so swiftly.
Last I checked Ilthilien and Osgiliath weren't as close as Brooklyn
and Queens. Unless they had teleportation devices. Faramir is NOT
like Boromir who was tempted by the Ring. Faramir is the hope that
there are other men out there like Aragorn. That Mankind is not
doomed utterly. But, here they --WE-- are. There is only one Aragorn,
who dies. We see the lovely appedix interlude-- which made me cry.
BUT the whole Aragorn MIA was totally ridiculous and actually weakened
his character.
I apologize for abruptly leaving off here. I will add more. But
I have another final in moments...and a need of caffeine. Stay tuned
to more ramblings!
by Anthony S Burdge
I will put it plain:we did enjoy it, but have mixed thoughts on
it. Jessica and I saw it twice (so far at the time of this writing):
once on December 3rd, at an advanced screening and on opening day.
There are certainly parts that moved us to tears, then there are
parts that have questions arise that do, or do not get answered.
I can forget the Orcs in sunlight riding the Wargs, as well as Gollum's
own trip in the sunlight. I can also forget about the elves at Helm's
Deep. What has me left with questions, however, is the change with
Faramir. He is the exact opposite of Boromir and is not tempted
to take the ring to Gondor, Frodo in the book even comments that
Faramir reminds him of Gandalf. Here we see him tempted, but perhaps
PJ is showing that he can lead and not be like his brother, that
he realizes in the end Gondor does not need the ring. But why? And,
why is Frodo in Osgiliath, facing a Ringwraith on its winged steed?
Will we see Pippin and the Palantir? What was with Treebeard-- visually
he was amazing, but why did he not know the trees around Isengard
were all gone?
A review of The Two Towers By Catherine Sparsidis Heren Istarion Staff Artist
They say that the third time is the charm. With great excitement I awaited December 18th, counting the days as I'm sure everyone else had. Sitting in the theater watching it though, I found that I was expecting this film to be as magical and exciting as Fellowship was. When I left the theater I felt as though I had been betrayed. I went into the theater with an authoritative air and I think that cast a spell of negativity over the evening. Although the good parts were realllllyy amazing, there were some choices that Peter made which broke my heart. The second time I went to see it, I realized that I had been a little unforgiving the first time, and I left the theater accepting many of the changes once I had some time to let it sink in and analyze it thoroughly. The third time I went to see it, I realized that I really enjoyed it, with the exception of one thing that I'm sorry to say, I simply cannot let go. Let me speak now of my approval and disapproval of cuts and additions in order of the film sequences. In the beginning,.....there was man,....a Wizard. Gandalf. Perfect. Simply perfect. The execution of his fall segueing into Frodo's present was again, perfect. The hobbits meeting Smeagol, the chase to find Merry and Pippin, the meeting of Eomer, perfect. And then we get to Rohan. I had some issues here. Minor ones, but issues just the same. The sequence with the mother sending off her children, the stupid kid falling off the horse, ridiculous. Unnecessary. The population of Rohan was way too small to be seen as anything worth saving. It should have been bigger. I had an issue with the exorcism of Saruman from Theoden, but after some thought on it, I realized that this was Peter's way of dumbing down the situation for the people that have not read the books to understand the control Saruman had on Thoeden. Wormtongue was perfect, although a wee bit gothed out with the Marilyn Manson contacts and what I believe to be fishnet sleeves. Eowyn,
my idol from the first moment of my enchantment with these books
at the age of nine was not only portrayed perfectly through Miranda
Otto but my goddess she was gorgeous! The way she showed the constant
sorrow which haunts Eowyn through mere _expression alone made my
heart skip. I really loved how Peter broke apart her description
from the book, when Aragorn had first seen her, into dialogue between
her and Wormtongue, then later again with Aragorn himself. I can't say that I agree with the choice to move everyone from Edoras to Helms Deep, but I understand it. What I did like about that was how you got to see a very real side of Aragorn, Gimli, Eowyn,....they were at ease somewhat, and not playing the heroic characters they were. (It must have been the beards.) The
battle itself- amazing!!! Yeah sure the elves of Lorien never joined
them in the book BUT they joined the men and dwarves in The Hobbit,....and
even though that was under different circumstances, part of me feels
that Peter was paying some homage to that book and the alliances
that were reforged back then. Killer battle scene though. No pun
intended. I could have done without the melodramatic death of Haldir.
I mean, the guy has a handful of lines in Fellowship and in the
film he wasn't all that much to deserve as dramatic an exit as Boromir.
I had absolutely no issues with Aragorn falling off the cliff for the simple reason that it led into the sequence with Arwen,.....and where none of that happened in the Two Towers, it all happened in the appendix, and I think Peter made a beautiful choice in bringing that all forward to give Hollywood their token romance while sticking straight to the original paths Tolkien intended for the King and his Evenstar. Treebeard was great, and I only say that now after the third time when I realized he wasn't really mean at first,..he just wasn't being hasty. I do think that using John Rhys Davies as the voice was a bad choice,...even if I had not known ahead of time, I still would have noticed immediately that he sounded JUST LIKE GIMLI! (kinda looked a little like him too) Gollum was outstanding. I applaud him. Now, onto the one thing that upset me so much that it made me want to leave the theater before the credits rolled, all three times. Faramir and the move to Osgiliath. The
first time I met Faramir I thought he was a little too much like
Boromir, but when I saw it again and again, I realized that he was
VERY much like Boromir, but not until he makes the very horrid decision
to bring the trio to Osgiliath. |
  |
