Director: Peter Jackson
Stars: Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Liv Tyler, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Miranda Otto, Dominic Monaghan, Brad Dourif, Cate Blanchett, Bernard Hill
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 179 minutes

A big-screen adaptation of The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien was regarded as a project that could not be done. It could not be made. There were too many complications, and too many factors acting against it. Step up Peter Jackson, and behold the trilogy in all its resplendent glory.

After the critical and commercial success of the first of the trilogy, The Fellowship Of The Ring the second instalment, The Two Towers is now upon us. Picking up where the first film left off, it does not disappoint. The battle scenes are bigger, the special effects are better, and the quest that began in the first film continues, albeit with the remaining members of "The Fellowship" having to follow their own paths.

The lead characters develop new alliances, and each has a story that unfolds. Whilst much of the first film's narrative was centred on the Hobbit, Frodo Baggins, here the story splits, whilst still focusing on Frodo, to show Aragorn beginning to follow the path to his destiny.

Frodo (Elijah Wood) and his companion Sam (Sean Astin) who are trying to return the Ring to Mount Doom, encounter Gollum, a character who made a brief appearance in the first film. Gollum seeks the Ring, as he once possessed it, and it is this possession that has turned him into his current form: a shadowy figure stands where there was once a Hobbit. He is very much a troubled soul. The main point to note is that the Gollum character is computer-generated. A great deal of development was carried out by the special effects team to ensure that they didn't do a "Jar Jar", and boy does it show! Gollum makes the Jar Jar Binks character from the Star Wars prequels and even Harry Potter's Dobby the House Elf look primitive. He is one of many highlights of the film.

The other computer-generated character to make an appearance in this film is Treebeard. He is an Ent, which is essentially a walking, talking tree. He is befriended by Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd), Frodo's cousins, whilst they are trying to escape from orcs. The notion of a giant walking, talking tree sounds a bit ridiculous, but we discover that he is an ancient creature and is more like a tree-herder, than just a tree. The voice of Treebeard is provided by John-Rhys Davies, who also appears as Gimli the dwarf.

Gimli, along with Legolas the elf (Orlando Bloom) and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) are tracking Merry and Pippin, but soon find themselves joining forces with the people of Rohan to fight against the united army of Lord Sauron and the wizard Saruman (an under-used Christopher Lee). This culminates in THE highlight of the film: the battle of Helm's Deep, which really has to be seen to be believed.

This film has terrific action scenes, and the story is fleshed out in between these to show each of the quests developing. All the lead actors give solid performances, and there are characters from the first film (such as Liv Tyler, Hugo Weaving, and Cate Blanchett) who appear briefly, but are dependable enough to keep the story moving.

The second film in any trilogy is essentially the meat of the story, and this film does it's job of moving the story on, and setting things up nicely for the concluding part (The Return Of The King) which is scheduled for release somewhere close to Christmas 2003.

This part of the trilogy has been compared to The Empire Strikes Back in terms of significance. As that film is regarded by many as the best of the Star Wars films, then this may give an indication of how important The Two Towers is in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

If you've seen the first film then this is unmissable, as it betters Fellowship in practically every department. If you've yet to see the first film (where have you been?) then it's probably advisable to watch that before viewing The Two Towers. The film is nearly three hours long but, as with The Fellowship Of The Ring, you really do not notice the time passing by. You find yourself wanting to see the next chapter right away, which must be a sign that there is something special on show.

Solid performances, jaw-dropping special effects, and a well-paced story contribute to what, in this reviewer's opinion, is one of the best films of 2002