Lord Of The Rings, The - The Two Towers

Under the assumption that everyone has seen The Fellowship of the Ring, director Peter Jackson here jumps straight back into the action, with only a revealing flashback to Gandalf's plunge into the void from the first film. With the fellowship fractured, the story diverges into three separate strands: Frodo and Sam's trek to Mordor, on which they are joined by the deranged Gollum; Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn's new allegiance with the imperilled kingdom of Rohan; and Merry and Pippin's affiliation with the sentient trees of Fangorn Forest. Darker and more urgent than the first film, Jackson again displays an unparalleled grasp of storytelling on a grand scale — the siege of Helm's Deep in the final hour is as heroic and spectacular as any battle scene ever committed to film and is likely to become the trilogy's standout sequence. The performances are uniformly excellent, with the original cast reinforced by strong characterisations from Brad Dourif and Bernard Hill. The most impressive contribution, however, comes from Andy Serkis, who provides the creepy tones and fluid physical movements of Gollum, the most convincing and emotionally complex CGI character created to date.

The narrative force slackens and fragments in this middle section of the trilogy, but the thrill of the action sequences and the sense that a world is in deadly peril make it as absorbing as the first film.