Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers splits its heroes apart and gets a better film for it. The 2002 sequel runs 179 minutes, and the three storylines never feel like a detour.
Trailer, via Warner Bros. Rewind.
Frodo, Sam, and Gollum
The ring’s burden grows heavier on Elijah Wood’s Frodo, and Sean Astin’s Sam stays at his side as the loyal gardener and companion. Andy Serkis plays Gollum, a hobbit-like creature once known as Sméagol, who owned the Ring for 500 years. Frodo pities him and lets him guide the pair toward Mordor. Sam does not trust the wretch. He is right not to.
Aragorn at Helm’s Deep
Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn, Orlando Bloom’s Legolas, and John Rhys-Davies’s Gimli chase the Uruk-hai who took Merry and Pippin. They enter Rohan, a kingdom at war with itself. Its king, Théoden, is under Saruman’s spell until Gandalf heals him. Bernard Hill plays Théoden as a man waking from a long sleep. The fight at Helm’s Deep is the film’s center, and it earns the runtime.
Gandalf the White
Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the White, an Istari wizard who fell fighting a Balrog and came back more powerful than before. His return is the film’s best trick. He frees Théoden from Saruman’s control, then leaves to find Éomer and his exiled riders. Christopher Lee’s Saruman the White wages war on Rohan and has already devastated Fangorn Forest. He allied himself with Sauron in the previous film.
Merry, Pippin, and Treebeard
Billy Boyd’s Pippin and Dominic Monaghan’s Merry escape their orc captors and meet Treebeard, the leader of the Ents, voiced by Rhys-Davies. The Ents are slow to anger and slower to act. When Treebeard sees what Saruman did to Fangorn, he is roused. The march on Isengard is short but it lands.
The Women of the Tale
Miranda Otto’s Éowyn, Théoden’s niece, becomes infatuated with Aragorn. In Rivendell, Elrond tells his daughter Arwen that Aragorn will not return, and that if she stays in Middle-earth she will outlive him. These scenes carry the weight the battles cannot.
A Cast Built to Last
The ensemble includes:
- Elijah Wood as Frodo, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, and Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn
- Sean Astin as Sam, Andy Serkis as Gollum, and John Rhys-Davies as Gimli and Treebeard
- Orlando Bloom as Legolas, Bernard Hill as Théoden, and Miranda Otto as Éowyn
- Dominic Monaghan as Merry, Billy Boyd as Pippin, and Christopher Lee as Saruman
What Holds
The Two Towers does not resolve its own story, and it does not try to. It moves three groups toward a war they cannot yet see, and it trusts the audience to keep up. The Gollum performance is the reason to return to this one. Serkis makes a monster who is pitiable and dangerous at once, and the film never picks a side for you.
The Battle of Helm’s Deep is the set piece, but the quieter material is what makes the film last. Théoden’s recovery, Éowyn’s longing, and Frodo’s failing resolve all sit inside a 179-minute adventure that never drags. The tagline promises the journey continues. It does, and it goes somewhere worth following.
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