War, comedy and trees that walk

AT THE end of the first Lord of the Rings film, Gandalf, the grey wizard (Ian McKellen), was seen wrestling with an implausible beast, while tumbling into the deep pit of Khazad-dum. LOTR won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, and for once, it was hard to argue with the wisdom of the Academy.

The Two Towers picks up exactly where the last film left off, with only the briefest pause for exposition. Gandalf’s plunge is shown again, but the reprise is necessary to demonstrate how, actually, the wizard managed to cheat death by stabbing the beast with a molten spork and chanting Red Rum seven times. (For the purposes of brevity, I have paraphrased slightly.) In fact, the first return of Gandalf is a feint, as it occurs in the dream of the lost hobbit, Frodo (the wide-eyed Elijah Wood), whose bad luck it is to carry the all-powerful ring which corrupts all who come into contact with it, and whose task it is to shepherd it to destruction.

He is assisted, as before, by his chubby chum Sam (Sean Astin), the Jesus-like Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), the elfin archer Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and, for comic relief, Gimli the Dwarf (John Rhys-Davies).

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Elsewhere, the Hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) are forced to traipse around in the woods of Fangorn Forest, before discovering the trees can talk, and walk, and are capable of reason.

The fellowship of the first film is split in three, making the action necessarily episodic. The most lively scenes are those involving Aragorn, as Mortensen has the jawline and the bearing to resemble an epic hero, and he has his chance towards the conclusion when he is forced to lead the people of Rohan. They are kept under siege by thousands of marauding invaders under the charge of Saruman (Christopher Lee), the lapsed head of the Council of the Wise, who has succumbed to the evil of Sauron.

Rohan is overseen by the ravaged King Theoden (Bernard Hill), who is made less ravaged by the sudden appearance of Gandalf, an immortal who nevertheless feels the need to change cloaks between his reinventions (fashionable wizards are wearing white this season). The other significant character, who appeared fleetingly in the first film, is Gollum, a Spielberg-influenced goblin, alternately cute and very, very nasty. He is a former keeper of the ring, whose life was transformed horribly by the responsibility implied by the task. Frodo, whose tenancy of the ring turns more sour with every minute, understands this, allowing Gollum to be his guide, although he is aware his veiny charge may prove untrustworthy.

This film is darker and more battle-heavy, and the swordplay and archery are rendered with a Zulu-ish gusto. The concentration on war underlines the absence of women. Aragorn still holds a torch for the Elf Arwen (Liv Tyler), but also catches the eye of the human Eowyn (Miranda Otto), who does a bit of pining accompanied by a soundtrack.

The warring is interrupted by some cute comedy, including a good joke about the best way to prepare a rabbit. The walking-talking trees are a problem, but bearable. Otherwise the story maintains its grip, like Shakespeare directed by Ozzy Osbourne, until the end, which is a self-conscious nod to the nature of storytelling.