I’m just going to start this
review by stating that this is my favorite part of the trilogy. For those who
think that The Two Towers is the best, then don’t be disappointed. A lot of the
book, The Two Towers, is covered in this movie. I’ll get to more of that at the
end of this review. But let’s get to this movie and we’ll get to why it is important
for this blog.
Watch this as alternative to reading post (Part 1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSZsyPFJxUU
(Part 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnVCXYakexo
We begin rather simply with
two people fishing in a boat. Well, two hobbits, really. One of them is
Semagol. The other one finds the ring in the stream after a fish takes him out
of the boat. Both of them become ensnared by the ring and they start to fight
over it. Ultimately, Semagol kills the other one other this and slowly loses
his humanity or hobbitity as I should say. He took it into a cave.
Back in the present, Frodo
takes out the ring that is a huge burden on his neck. Semagol tells Frodo and
Sam that they must go at once. The others in the company see Merry and Pippin
there. They talk to Treebeard and talk some about Sarumon who they say is
locked in the tower and powerless. Pippin sees something in the water and Gandalf
takes it from him. It is the seeing stone.
The company returns to Ederas
in Rohan. They celebrate their victory. Gandalf is convinced that Frodo is
alive, although there is still no word officially. Gollum talks to himself and
reveals his plan to the others about sending them up the stairs and having an
unknown she take control. He doesn’t like to eat orcs as they don’t taste very
nice, although I’m not sure how or why Gollum would know that. Were they dead
at the time? Sam notices Gollum talking to himself saying that he wants the
hobbits dead. But Frodo wants to use Gollum still and doesn’t believe that
Gollum is evil.
Back in Ederas, Legolas and
Aragorn talk outside while Pippin takes the seeing stone from Gandalf, much to
the chagrin of Merry. Sauron sees Pippin with Legolas, Aragorn, and Gandalf all
alerted to this right away. Aragorn briefly holds the stone before Gandalf
covers it. In fear, Pippin tells Gandalf what had happened and revealed nothing
of the ring or Frodo. He also saw a glimpse of Sauron’s plan.
Gandalf gathers some of the
company with King Theodon and now knows that Sauron plans to strike the city of
Minis Terith. Theodon is reluctant to help. Aragorn wants to go right away, but
is told by Gandalf to go through a different route. Gandalf rides out with
Pippin, but Merry stays behind.
Arwen was still heading to the
Undying Lands until she sees a vision of a son that she has with Aragorn and
she returns to her father Elrond in Rivendale. He says that this future is
almost gone, but since it is not lost, she has a hope for it. She wants the
sword that Isedor had to be remade.
Gandalf and Pippin arrive at
Minis Terith. Gandalf tells Pippin about a lot of things not to talk about and
just settles on him not speaking at all. But this plan is dashed when this
steward of Gondor, Denathor, holds the horn of his dead son Boramir. Pippin
decides to pledge his loyalty to this man in payment of the sacrifice that
Boramir made for them. There are some tense words as Denathor doesn’t want to
defend the city like he’s supposed to. He also doesn’t want Aragorn to return
to the throne that he belongs to. Gandalf is worried that if things don’t go
their way, it will be the end of Gondor as we know it. I feel fine. It’s time I
find myself alone.
Continuing to talk about what
is currently going on, Gandalf reveals that the witch king (who?) is the
deadliest servant of Sauron and was the ringwrath that stabbed Frodo back in
the first movie. He says that Osgiliath could fall which would then open up the
city they are in now for attack. This will be the great battle of their time.
While he is talking, Frodo,
Sam, and Gollum approach Minis Morgol and the draw of the ring winds up almost
sucking Frodo into this place. The others pull him back and a bunch of orcs
start to march from this place. Gollum leads them up the stairs.
We then return to Osgiliath
and the attack by the orcs that are taking place. They come two if by sea.
Faramir and various others start fighting back against the orcs. Wasn’t there
still a battle going on in this when we last left these people in The Two
Towers? Is it the one that is still going on? Is this another wave of orcs that
are coming then?
Gandalf convinces Pippin to
light the beacons and all of the people who just happened to live in all of the
various places that they need to with not one of them missing a link in the
chain thankfully light all of the signals throughout the day and night and next
day it seems? Aragorn notices this and goes to run into the hall where he tells
Theodon about this with a bunch of other people around. I’ve always felt that
this is kind of a dick move like a public proposal where he is now being
pressured to say yes. And Theodon does say that Rohan will answer with their
aid. I do wonder if the timeline makes sense. If this is supposed to be the
same day, why were shots of the beacons being lit shown at night then? Is there
some jumping around in the timeline?
With Osgiliath being overrun
by orcs, the men are told to leave for Minis Terith and thus retreat. The
nazgul show up to join the attack, although I’m not sure where they were this
whole time. It does make sense if this battle were still ongoing from the last
movie since the ringwraths would have been among those occupied by the fighting
and not the ring itself escaping. While the nazgul seek to follow the men who
are returning to Minis Territh, Gandalf uses his powers to prevent them from
following. Pippin is on this ride as well as they never filmed a version with
just Gandalf riding out when they moved the arrival of the pair to earlier in
the story. But it is good that Faramir saw Pippin as he reveals more of what
had gone on with Frodo and Sam since these are other hobbits that he saw
recently.
Lots of things happen in the
meantime. Frodo, Sam, and Gollum continue up the stairs as the orcs continue
marching towards battle. The distrust between Sam and Gollum grows stronger
while Frodo might soon turn on Sam. The orc leader talks to the witch king
about taking out Gandalf. Pippin pledges his loyalty to Denathor while Denathor
wants his son to retake the lost city with other men too.
Gollum frames Sam for eating
the rest of the bread, putting crumbs on his shoulder and throwing the rest of
it to the bottom. This leads to a huge fight. Sam offers to take the ring for a
while, something that Gollum had warned Frodo that Sam would do. Did Gollum
know that such a thing would happen if he played his cards right? Frodo tells
Sam to go home. Frodo and Gollum continue up on their own without Sam joining
them yet.
Gandalf doesn’t want Faramir
and the others going off into this battle, but Faramir wants to do this in
order to earn his father’s respect since Denathor wishes that Faramir had died
instead of Boramir. The steward seems disinterested in everything, eating food
while Pippin sings to him as the men that go out to reclaim Osgiliath are
quickly slaughtered with Faramir’s fate currently unknown.
The people from Rohan encamp
near a mountain. The path into it isn’t a place that people return from as the
mountain is evil and none who enter it ever returns. I feel like any time this
happens, you are basically telling the audience that someone in the story will
go there and then return. Eowen wants to train Merry who wants to fight, but
others doubt that he can provide much help.
Aragorn wakes up and sees
Elrond here. Arwen is dying somehow. But the hour is come. Elrond reveals that
ships will be coming from the south to attack Gondor. Elrond wants Aragorn to
go to the people in the mountain to bring them to their side since no force
would be able to withstand them. Elrond also reveals that the sword was remade,
meaning that he can summon them.
Eowen doesn’t want them to
leave on the eve of battle. Aragorn is joined in his task by Legolas and Gimli.
They think that he is leaving because there is no hope. Theodon admits that
there might not be any hope, but they are still to meet their enemy in battle nonetheless.
He wants Eowen to lead in the event that he is to die. But she still feels that
there is more she can do.
Legolas goes through the story
of how Isealdor cursed the men who didn’t fight for Gondor and that is how they
are cursed. Aragorn does not fear death so he goes through the doorway even
though the way is shut since the dead made it and keep it. Legolas quickly
follows and Gimli reluctantly joins not wanting to be known as a dwarf who
wouldn’t go underground when an elf would.
Meanwhile, Merry is almost
left behind, but Eowen in disguise (a fact that was secret in the book for a
while) takes him with them and the rest of them. Aragorn and the others arrive
in the city of the dead. It doesn’t appear at first that he is getting help
from them. The company is surrounded and has no way of fighting them. That is
until Aragorn reveals that he is the king of Gondor and he wants them to join
him in their fight to hold their oaths fulfilled. The scene ends here with any
answer as to whether or not these men will fight yet unknown.
Sure enough, it seems that all
of the men from the fight at Osgiliath died, but Pippin notices that Faramir is
still alive. Denathor is convinced that his line is dead. Upon seeing the hoard
of orcs that are starting to fight the battle and thinking that Rohan betrayed
them, Denathor tells people to flee. But Gandalf takes charge and orders the
citizens to fight. The men of Rohan catapult parts of their own city against
the orcs as the orcs attack the people as well. Pippin tries to fight too, but
is told to leave by Gandalf.
Frodo is sent into a tunnel
since the only other option was to turn back. It is a scary place that he is
now at with Gollum not taking him far from it. He uses the light he got from
Galadriel to see a big spider in this area that he’s at. While this is going
on, Sam notices the bread from earlier and turns around to go help Frodo.
Gollum reveals his true colors, trying to take the ring from Frodo.
When Frodo gets the edge in
the fight, Gollum says that it was the ring that made him attack Frodo. This is
when Frodo reveals that the ring must be destroyed, which causes Gollum to
attack Frodo and then fall. But I know enough from watching these movies that
just because a character falls, doesn’t mean that they are dead. Also, this did
not happen in the book. Frodo seems to have lost his will to continue for a bit
until he sees a vision of Galadriel there and continues.
Back in Gondor, Pippin sees
that they are preparing to burn the body of Faramir. Gandalf continues to lead
the fight against the orcs who have breached the wall. Frodo continues on his
path forward and the giant spider is able to sting Frodo before quickly
wrapping him in a web. Sam shows up, wanting Frodo to be let go. I’m glad that
Frodo wasn’t being held above something high when Sam said this. The two of
them fight some until the spider retreats at his magical light. Sam looks at
Frodo but he doesn’t seem to be alive anymore. Sam notices the sword glow blue,
meaning orcs are around. Sam leaves Frodo alone and the orcs take Frodo away.
But Frodo is revealed to be alive. What happened to the ring?
Pippin tries to convince
Denathor that his son isn’t dead. Denathor releases Pippin from his service. He
then seeks to find Gandalf. The orcs have set fire to the city. Gandalf tells
them to retreat to the second level. This is when the company from Rohan shows
up. The orcs notice this and prepare to fight. King Theodon rallies the troops
by giving an inspiring speech. The orcs fire and them while the men charge. I
don’t know why the orcs just stood there the whole time. Maybe they went to the
Power Rangers villain school of fighting others.
Pippin finds Gandalf and they
seek to go to where Denathor is. Denathor seeks to kill himself as well. Pippin
is able to save Faramir. Denathor sees that his son is alive and catches fire.
He is able to run all the way from the room he was in while on fire all the way
to the top of the building which he jumped off. Now the fighting continues down
on the ground with the men from Rohan having made quite an advantage when more
of the villains show up to fight includes lots of oliphants.
Back in the battlefield,
Gandalf talks about how death is just the beginning of a new adventure. The
witch king attacks Theodon which causes his horse to fall on top of him. Eowen
fights against this person as she cuts off the head of the fellbeast. She
battles with this nazgul in the meantime.
The ships arrive in the
meantime and it is Aragorn who shows up with Legolas, Gimli, and the entire
ghost army joining the fight. Merry assists Eowen. She is told that no man can
kill him. She’s not a man and she stabs him in the face, taking him out.
Legolas takes out an Oliphant and the people who were riding on it. Gimli is
not that impressed by it. Theodon talks to Eowen some before he dies. The ghost
army was able to win the battle at hand. Gimli wants to use them further, but
Aragorn still decides to hold their oaths fulfilled and they all fade away.
Pippin sees Merry in the battlefield.
We then return to where Frodo
is, bound and held captive by the orcs. They fight over a shirt. Frodo notices
that the ring is missing. This does lead to infighting among the orcs here. Sam
is then seen there approaching where Frodo is at. He sees others already
beaten. He fights against others. Sam arrives to save Frodo and untie him. This
is when we learn that Sam has the ring. Indeed, in the book, he was known to
have taken the ring and even used it while Sauron was distracted by the battle
at Minis Terith. Sam seems reluctant to give the ring back, having possibly
been ensnared by it in the short amount of time that he has had it. But Frodo
takes it back.
Needing clothes for Frodo,
both he and Sam wind up dressed like orcs to blend in. Gandalf admits that he
cannot see Frodo. Gandalf thinks that Frodo could be sent to his death. Aragorn
suggests that he and the others should go to the black gate to fight against
Sauron as a distraction against what is going on. But he still wants to do this
to obtain victory for Frodo. The orcs move to the black gates as do Aragorn and
his company of fighters. Frodo and Sam move, having magically changed clothes
at some point in time. The eye seeks to find Frodo and the ring before focusing
back on the ensuing battle.
It seems like the heroes are
getting surrounded by the orcs. Why would they willingly do that? And we also
see Frodo and Sam continuing to make their way to Mount Doom. Sam carries Frodo
since he can’t carry the ring for Frodo. Frodo sees a vision of darkness that
Sam seeks to get rid of. The big group of heroes fights for Frodo. Gollum
reappears and fights against Frodo and Sam. The ringwraths appear in the fight
while the eagles finally return to the story. What is this? Eagle ex machina? Frodo
is able to potentially destroy the ring, but resists the urge to do so.
Instead, he puts the ring on. This alerts the eye and the ringwraths to what is
going on.
Gollum comes out and takes out
Sam some. He tussles with the invisible Frodo for the ring, biting off part of
Frodo’s finger for it. Gollum winds up with the ring. Frodo fights for it back
leading the two of them to go over the edge. Only Gollum and the ring fall into
the fire with Frodo hanging off the cliff above the lava below. The ring takes
a while to be destroyed, leaving the eye to fall and explode with the tower
instantly crumbling beneath it. The nazgul die as the volcano erupts. Frodo and
Sam quickly get out of the area, but seem like they might die before too long.
Frodo talks about how the ring is gone. The orc army winds up defeated in the
meantime through an earthquake like event as the ground winds up crumbling
beneath them.
Gandalf is somehow able to get
on an eagle as they rescue Frodo and Sam. The rest of the company is able to
reunite. We then see a crowd of people gather for the crowning of Aragorn as
king of Gondor. Gandalf is able to do this although I don’t know how he had
this authority. Aragorn reunites with Arwen as they kiss. The four hobbits are
told that they bow to no one. They return to Hobbiton.
Unlike the book, this Hobbiton
doesn’t know anything about the fight that happened as the longer ending to the
story isn’t in the movie. Indeed, we never find out what happens to Sarumon
unless we watch the extended editions which I plan to cover later. Sam winds up
marrying Rosie. Frodo writes the story about what happened to him and the
others in a book. He adds it to what Bilbo wrote. Sam sees the book and says
that there is room for more in the book. Frodo says that his wound from
Weathertop never truly healed. There is one last journey for Bilbo. Bilbo even
mentions the ring that he doesn’t know was destroyed, possibly being overcome
with a type of dementia.
At the harbor, Biblo says that
he is ready for another adventure as the elves seek to take him to the Undying
Lands. Gandalf is with them, as is Galadriel and Elrond. The four hobbits are
there as well to see them off. Frodo is revealed to be leaving the others
behind. Frodo gives Sam the book, saying that the last pages are for him. The
other hobbits tearfully say goodbye to Frodo. After they sail off to the
Undying Lands, Sam returns to his family at the Shire. His part of the story
will go on as he’s back. And that is how the story ends.
As stated before, this is my
favorite of the Lord of the Rings films. In fact, if I were given 24 hours to
live, I would watch this film again during that time. I love the ending. I may
get sad at the end because the movie is over, but it doesn’t matter too much as
I can and will just watch the movie again. Besides, some of us know that sad is
happy for deep people.
This one has a lot changed
from the book, although the biggest change is what was delayed from the second
book to this one. Shelob, the giant spider, is the end of The Two Towers book
from Frodo’s perspective with Sam’s story continuing on from there starting his
half of the book. It does take place during this same time frame as stated in
the book as the battle at Minis Territh was going on at the time that Sam was
going after the captured Frodo. Gandalf’s and Pippin’s arrival at Minis Territh
was also the start of The Return of the King book with other details seen in
this movie having been delayed until later as well. But I think that Peter
Jackson is right and it works better this way.
There is a reason that this
film swept the Oscars. I do feel a bit bad for all of the films that competed
against it as only the films that weren’t in the competition against this film
won Oscars. I feel that this film more than deserves what all that it got and I
encourage everyone to watch these films if they have not seen them already. I
also hope that people like it who read the books as there still might be a bit
of animosity between these purists and the changes that the movies made
(although it did much better in some ways then The Hobbit did). But I love this
film and recommend that everyone sees it at some point in their life. For now,
this is Adam Decker, signing off.
