The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers

AroView: Peter Jackson’s mammoth adaptation of J R R Tolkien’s fantasy classic continues in grand fashion, with increased visual panache and dramatic substance bolstering a difficult three-storyline structure.

Darker in tone than FELLOWSHIP, this second installment follows Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortenson, Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto and Ian McKellen inexorably through an escalating series of battles, standoffs and deadlines with Middle Earth’s Embodiment of Evil – Sauron – that will surely climax in the final film. Distinguished by the appearance of ‘Gollum’, a wonderful CGI creature who lends twisted psychology to the story, and the epic battle of ‘Helms Deep’, where a vast clash of armies intensifies the tragedy of the dying ‘Rohan’ empire.