12/29/2002 Entry: ""
Posted by Maynard @ 11:12 PM MST
Movie Mania 1: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
This Christmas brought movie tickets to the Christmas tree. I took my dad to see The Two Towers, which he read in college and I'm reading now. It is a thoroughly excellent movie.
There is a lot more departure from the book for this movie. However, like LOTR:FOTR, it is a deeply satisfying departure, and does well in making up the difference.
When we last left the fellowship, Merry & Pippen had been kidnapped by the Uruk-Hai and were being taken to Saruman, because the Uruk-Hai thought they had whatever it is that Saruman wanted. However, Frodo had the ring and Sam was with him, going the other direction. The fight in FOTR where Boromir dies is actually in The Two Towers book, but you have to end FOTR on an action scene. Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn end up chasing the Uruk-Hai, and the movie skips over the friendship that develops between the elf and dwarf that wasn't there before. Losing points there, it makes them up and more when the return of Gandalf is shown. The opening scene is actually the Kazad-hum bridge scene, replayed in all its cross-like glory.
By the way, if you don't think that Gandalf is a type in this story of Christ, just go back and read John 19-21, then go watch The Two Towers.
The movie has to switch between storylines, whereas the book tells the story of Aragorn & co., then Frodo, Sam, and Gollum/Smeagol. No points lost here, that's just a constraint imposed by the medium. Speaking of Smeagol, the movie goes along very well with his scenes. There is much symbology in the cinematography in his scenes, and Andy Serkis should get lots of credit for the work he had to do in that part, even though he physically did not appear in the movie. He had to put on a suit that was replaced in post-production with Gollum's skin, and being able to duplicate Gollum's movements as he did is a great credit to his acting talent.
The movie does very well with the Ents, a tree-like people who shepherd the forest. However, the movie stops just short of where the book does, at least as far as the Ents, Saruman, and Gandalf are concerned. It was a little disappointing in that respect, but only when I finished the first half of the book.
Romance: 3/10 (a small romantic idea in the book is played into a gigantic snowball in the movie)
Action: 9/10 (Helm's Deep in the book is nothing like the movie, but the lack of synchronization is forgivable, given the extent of the battle)
Drama: 8/10 (the idea of destroying the ring is a wonderful plot, and the struggle Frodo has with the ring is played to the hilt)
Music: 9/10 (I am already saving for the boxed set)
Overall: 9/10 An excellent action movie. Definitely worth the big-screen price.
Replies: 
(2)
hey idiot jesus isn't real so dont compare him to gandalf
Posted by mithrandir @ 03/25/2003 07:07 PM MST
First, He is. Second, Gandalf isn't. Third, go back to school and learn the following, in this order: spelling, pronoun capitalization, grammar, and the concept of literary metaphor.
Posted by Maynard @ 05/14/2003 11:06 AM MST
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