It’s always hardest to do the middle film in a proposed trilogy of films.
The second film is always the maker or breaker of a franchise. In some of the most successful franchises of all time, the second film has gone on to eclipse its predecessor. Examples of these stellar sequels are series like “Aliens”, “Star Trek”, “Star Wars” and even James Bond.
The hurdle that director and Tolkien visionary Peter Jackson had to endure was making a middle film in his epic trilogy that has neither a beginning or ending. It is like filming a middle chapter of an unfinished novel. In some ways that is exactly what it is.
People expecting a recap of “Fellowship” will be disappointed since Jackson dives straight into the story almost with out pause. The story picks up within seconds of where “Fellowship” left off.
The Fellowship has been split. Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) are off to Mordor to deliver the ring into Mount Doom. Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) are off to save hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) who have been captured by a troop of Orcs.
In the sequel, we find Frodo and Samwise lost in the Misty Mountains as they find themselves striking up a symbiotic friendship and alliance with the waif, Gollum (Andy Serkis). Gollum was driven insane when he possessed the “ring of power” now all he wants is to reclaim his “precious”. Can this creature be trusted or will this creature be the death of Frodo and Sam?
On the other front of the story, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli track their comrades to the kingdom of Mohan where they find a besieged kingdom that is about to overrun by the armies of the evil Saruman (Christopher Lee). A resurrected Gandalf (Ian McKellan) encourages the trio to join with King Theoden (Bernard Hill) to defend Rohan. Theoden leads his people and the trio to the legendary fortress Helm’s Deep where the final confrontation will be waged. Who will survive this battle? Will the fortress of Helm’s Deep fall? What did happen to Merry and Pippin and how will they figure into this chapter?
“Two Towers” is essentially three stories bridging the gap between the beginning and final confrontation with evil.
Jackson understands the scope of Tolkien’s Middle Earth as he finds a unique look for each of the kingdoms seen in this second Tolkien film. Tolkien and his master craftsmen built the castle of Rohan from scratch and etched out the fortress of Helm’s Deep from the walls of a rock quarry. They are truly amazing structures and Jackson uses them with passion and finesse.
The key performance of this film is the wonderful fully-digital Gollum. For once a computerized character seems to have a soul. The performance of the actor beneath the pixels shines through and he is amazing to watch in every frame. There is some humor in Gollum’s madness as he struggles with his loyalties but it’s the scenes where Gollum reacts and does things on his own that are more remarkable than his obvious psychological struggle. You can’t but feel for this misplaced creature.
I always thought that the first film took way to long to build momentum. I also felt the same about the novel. In the second film, Jackson continues the momentum he built in the third act of Fellowship. There are definitely lulls in a film of this length but Jackson never allows his audience to be bored as he delivers new and exciting things to look at in awe. The shame is that there are a lot of these spectacles that take away from the actors.
I continue to sing Viggo Mortensen’s praises in this film as I did the previous one. I also really started to enjoy John Rhys-Davies performances as Gimli the dwarf. I also have always loved the forever creepy actor Brad Dourif and I am positive there is no one out there who could have been as oozy as Brad was playing Grima Wormtongue. I liked Miranda Otto’s damsel Eowyn but I wish there were more meat in the role for this capable actress.
The biggest fault of this part of the epic trilogy is that it is the middle film. There are a lot of signs where the film could have gotten lost but Jackson stayed his course. I am sure that when we finally see the end of this epic journey the middle film will be looked on as a great bridge. There is a lot to be celebrated in this film but for people who aren’t familiar with the material they will be lost.
4.25 out of 5
So Says the Soothsayer.
Written: December 2002
New Zealand director and visionary Peter Jackson spent over two years of filming time to bring forth the vision created by fantasy guru J.R.R Tolkien. His epic masterpiece was deemed unfilmable in its whole but Jackson’s passion helped him begin an epic quest of his own. The first of three books of Tolkien’s masterpiece is the “Fellowship of the Ring”.
3000 years previous, an evil sorcerer Sauron wielded a “ring” that could destroy armies and bring Middle Earth to its knees. In the wake of that victory, a desperate human general slices off Sauron’s fingers and the ring falls into his hands. The ring is pure evil and it can bring even the strongest man to his knees. The elves plead with the general to destroy the ring but to no avail. Eventually the ring is lost and thought destroyed after the general is killed and over the course of time it falls into Bilbo’s hands. It is this ring that could destroy all of Middle Earth.
Eventually Gandalf and the elves develop a nine member fellowship to bring the ring deep into Sauron’s domain and destroy it the fires of Mount Doom. Among that fellowship is Frodo, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Boromir (Sean Bean), Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) the dwarf, Legolas (Orlando Bloom) the elf, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) the hobbit, Pippin (Billy Boyd) the hobbit and Samwise (Sean Astin), Frodo’s ever reliable friend. For the next three years we will follow these adventurers through Middle Earth as they embark on their epic quest.
The first amazing thing I noticed was how cleverly the film depicts the differences in heights of the hobbits, humans, dwarves and elves. I was always a curious to see if they could pull that feat off. They do it with flawless brilliance. The almost giant Gandalf stumbling around Bilbo’s house and thrilling battles involving a lot of different sized people.
Jackson’s epic beginning isn’t without its faults. It truly is a site to behold if you can handle the enormous running time of 178 minutes. Theatres should acquire “lazy-boys” for this theatric experience. Tolkien’s epic masterpiece was deemed unfilmable because of the tome of content housed in the trilogy. The running time is what deemed it that. For any filmmaker it is truly hard to overcome that challenge. What makes the film’s epic running time bearable at times is the powerful score by Howard Shore. This truly is an amazing piece of filmmaking but even the most brilliant and beautiful can wear out their welcome.
Melding the world of human beings and cartoon characters on the silver screen has been a horrendous and often disastrous task for filmmakers.
The story of how all the characters get together is a little flat and the film is almost like an amusement park ride as we journey to different settings so that other toons can guest star. But if you love Looney Tunes then this film is sure to make you smile. Just sit back and enjoy the ride.
Master storyteller Hayao Miyazaki follows-up his Academy Award winning animated film “Spirited Away” with a tale of wizards, witches, spells and mysterious walking castle.
I have to admit I did have some problems with some of the story and the film’s eventual conclusion. I never felt that Sofi’s age-transition was properly discussed or examined especially in the last half of the film. I also felt that her story arc suffered greatly from the over-whelming Howl storyline. The film’s conclusion feels way to Disney and didn’t wrap up some of the other characters storylines.
Can anyone out there even remember how long it’s been since the original Mask film arrived in theatres? Well think of it this way. Jim Carrey was just starting to make a splash on the big screen and a little unknown actress named Cameron Diaz was cast as his love interest. The year was 1994.
Meanwhile, cartoonist and would-be animator Tim Avery (Jamie Kennedy) is struggling to start a family with his eager wife, Tonya (Traylor Howard). Tim wants a big promotion at work before they have the baby Tonya has always wanted.
There is a sort of zany cartoon element to the child in the film who faces off against a “Mask-enhanced” dog for the father’s affection. But the whole scenario is so out of this world that it belongs in a cartoon. The scenario being played out in real-life and CGI just seems utterly wrong.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. The same thing can be said for this new comedy.
There have been at least a thousand different films about arrogant rookies who endure basic training and make their new commanding officer proud.
One night, Randall has a rescue go horrifically wrong and the incident forces his commander, Capt. William Hadley (Clancy Brown) to send Randall to the Academy to train new swimmers. Randall feels crippled and to make matters worse his estranged wife, Helen (Sela Ward) leaves him.
He was responsible for introducing us to Steven Seagal in ‘Above the Law’ and for the very under-rated action film ‘The Package’ with Gene Hackman in the late 1980s. The early 1990s found Davis re-teaming with Seagal for ‘Under Siege’ which is still Seagal’s best film to date. Finally in 1993, Davis directed his most famous film when he re-imagined the classic TV series ‘The Fugitive’ with Harrison Ford.
The film feels like it could have ended at least six times. This film could have easily lost 30-40 minutes in the editing room.
Please let me go! I need to leave! I just can’t take it anymore.
There are a lot of things about “The Great Raid” that really bugged me but I will get into those later. The minor successes that I liked about the film were the way the film was able to incorporate archive footage into the film and that we finally got to see what the real people who went on the mission looked like including Nurse Utinsky. I also liked from a historical aspect that the film included how a Filipino unit aided in this mission.
This film feels and looks like a bad TV movie and has no real merits to rise above that stigmatism except at its core which is the film’s true story. But maybe because the mission was such a success, the film suffered from a lack of emotion and gripping suspense.
Director Alex Proyas, helmer of such cult favorites as “Dark City” and “The Crow”, steps into the Hollywood limelight with his first attempt at a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster.
Spooner is called to the offices of US Robotics when a leading scientist (James Cromwell), with a secret link to Spooner, has apparently committed suicide. His death seems to have mysterious circumstances which could link to a robot. With man’s complete trust in the new robot technology, it seems too ludicrous to every one except Spooner.
It is hard to defend a film like “I, Robot” but I am going to try. For sci-fi purists, Isaac Asimov’s legendary work about the robot and how he will intricate into our society has filled the minds of readers for over 50 years. But the similarities between the film presented here and his work are few and far between. Kind of like last week’s release of Jerry Bruckheimer’s “King Arthur”. Both films take sacred subject matter and re-invent it with a new twist. I would have to say that “I. Robot” is better in a lot ways.
The story, special effects and extremely zealous direction, however, all seem to be brought forth by the collaborators who cobbled this film together. There are influences of “Robocop”, “Short Circuit”, “Blade Runner” and even the classic comic-book series “Magnus: Robot Fighter”. Each of these robot influences echo back to what makes “I Robot” so intriguing, a joy to watch and memorable.
You really need to give credit to director Alex Proyas because it is his magic as a filmmaker that holds this film together. He knows where to play it straight and where to let his lead actor bring on the charm. Also you really have to admire the man’s technical ability. His brilliant inter-laying of robots into the photography is astounding. Proyas is an A-list director in the making and “I, Robot” shows that he can deliver a big Hollywood film.
In some ways I think Proyas had something to do with that especially in the chase down scene towards the beginning of the film. It almost felt like “Men in Black” again.
Owen Wilson finds himself in yet another action-buddy comedy. This time he is teamed with Eddie Murphy in a remake of the 1960’s TV series “I-Spy”.
“I-Spy” is a light and funny action comedy that expands on both the quick wit of Murphy and the comedic charms of Wilson. Murphy seems to be reliving his days of old as he over-acts his Robinson character with such style. I haven’t seen Eddie this fresh and funny since “Beverly Hills Cop 2”.
There are some great comedic moments in “I-Spy” like when Alex Scott (Wilson) is shown what gadgets he will be using for his mission then Scott sees what his rival Carlos (Cole) gets. This is a classic rip-off of the infamous “Q” scenes in the James Bond films.
“I-Spy” aims more at the updated and recent spy kind of films like James Bond (Brosnan era), Tom Clancy films and others.