"Two Towers" hard to dislike

The Michigan Partisan

By Page W. H. Brousseau IV
TIMES STAFF WRITER

If Homer J. Simpson, of The Simpson's fame, were to review the Lord of the Rings movies, I am sure he would say this, "The Lord of the Rings movies are like a hamburger, with The Two Towers as the meaty center, mmmmmmmmmm, meaty center."

The second of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings movie is no disappointment, and those who thought last year's Fellowship of the Ring was a tad slow, may enjoy the fast pace of The Two Towers. Despite clocking in at three hours, the movie seems as a roller coaster on a downward hill. Nearly a moment is wasted as we rejoin Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) on their journey to Mt. Doom, but now they are not alone. The pair are being followed by the mysterious and frightening creature of Gollum. Poor Gollum (Andy Serkis) suffers from a personality disorder and bad hygiene, and happens to be the most believable computer generated effect seen on film, with possibly the un-aging appearance of Jodi Foster a close second. Warner Brothers is campaigning hard to get Serkis a nomination for an Oscar, which would be a first for a computer generated character. The two Hobbits are torn whether to follow Gollum into Mordor because they know his true interest is in Ring, yet they are lost without him.

The second story in the movie is of the other Hobbits, Pippin and Mary. These two wayward Hobbits are rescued by an Ent called Treebeard, who happens to be a walking talking tree. If a walking talking tree seems unbelievable imagine a forest (?) of them attacking an Orc stronghold. With the Ents, there is never a moment where the viewer is not convinced Treebeard is nothing other than a walking talking tree, which in Middle Earth seems perfectly logical.

If The Two Towers is the meat of the Lord of the Rings hamburger, the story of Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom) compose the yummy condiments that cover the meat. The three enter the Kingdom of Rohan only to find out Saruman (Christopher Lee) has been controlling the king. Once the spell over the king is broken, Saruman launches his forces against Rohan and the Battle of Helms Deep is one of the most impressive war scenes ever created.

This movie has a beginning and an end, the beginning was released last year and the end will be released next year. The Two Towers, like the book, is not meant to stand alone, nor would anyone be satisfied with that. This chapter ends as the Eye of Sauron watches all and one tower is destroyed and the other made stronger. The fate of Middle Earth hangs in the balance in a Hobbit from the Shire, while ancient kingdoms unite in a fight for survival. The Two Towers is an inspiring story, a true classic story of a battle between good and evil that should not be missed.