It's been about twelve hours since I walked out of the midnight premiere of the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers at the Esquire theater. And I can't stop thinking about it. If I could leave work right now and see it again I would. But I've got an experiment running...so I won't.

There may be a few minor spoilers here and there in this review...it's probably all I'd ever get to cause I'm lazy that way. But I wanted to get something up for TORn (review #264, under Calenhíril). So here it is...

I truly enjoyed this movie. It was a near-constant barrage of action and adventure, and I think even if I hadn't seen the midnight premiere I would be tired after seeing it! The settings were, as before, wonderful. The music just swept you into Middle-Earth and is even better than the score for FotR.

The acting on a whole I think was more cohesive in this film, but some of the script was a little forced and predictable. But even when you knew you were supposed to laugh, it was funny.

I appreciated the effort that went into making Gollum and Treebeard. Gollum was well done, but there were just times when you could see that he was cgi. Treebeard was a bit of a disappointment, and there were definitely times when you could tell it was JRD's voice. The whole Merry/Pip/Treebeard story could use a little work.

Helm's Deep was amazing. The effects were wonderful and you really felt the action, and the emotion. The jokes on Gimli's stature were a little annoying after a while but did lighten the mood of a very dark and slightly scary part.

I loved the flooding of Isengard. Triumphant Ents, what can I say.

I'm very pleased at how they wove the three stories together--just about the time you were wondering "what happened to..." they cut to that group. And I have to put out my shoutout to more lines for Legolas The love triangle was not in as much evidence as it looked to be, and while the alternate Frodo/Sam ending was a little weird and completely not canon, I think it fit in with what PJ was trying to do, and I accept it.

Overall a very good film. I think it was better than FotR. More action, superb effects, and a year of experience only serve to enhance the movie. Go see it!

one thing that is quite spoilerish that disappointed me...(scroll down)

Legolas doesn't kill the Uruk that's going to set the fire for the blowing up of Helm's Dike! He hits the shoulder, then reaims and gets him but it's too late... and the Dike goes BOOM! I suppose someone had to do it, considering that the dike really does fall, b-b-b-but why did it have to be cause Lego's shooting wasn't spot-on at that moment? Bugger.

(end spoilage)

Aside from that , all was wonderful. We got there about 10, waited for a while until Alex came by with the tickets...I could have worn my cloak and no one would have laughed. And we weren't the first. And had we gotten there any later we wouldn't have gotten a seat near the front and near the middle...as it was we were at the right end of the third row...not ideal for your neck, and needless to say I'm paying for it today. My neck and shoulders are very sore. But it was worth every minute of waiting and craning. I loved it.

I know there are things I forgot in the review, like how the beginning just hits you with a load of beautiful scenery and snatches of dialogue and then we see the fight with the Balrog. One phrase I can use to describe the movie is boom-boom-boom. The images just keep coming. There isn't a long Hobbiton sequence to bog down the first part of the movie, you don't have to wait till the middle of the movie to meet more characters. Legolas is there all the time And he does more of those "oh-Valar-my-heart-just-broke" looks. Damn that is one fine elf. No Legolases from the costumed moviegoers. Not as common as it should be, lol. Next year I will wear a costume. It better be done by then!

More elvish. More action. Some things are totally different but it still makes a good movie. And that's what I went to see: a good movie. And that is what I got. Many OMB moments.

I'll probably be back for more, when I remember. Feel free to comment