Lord of the Rings The Two Towers is the second movie in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by Peter Jackson. Today we will review Two Towers and let you know where it sits in comparison to the other two movies in the series.

This review is based off the theatrical version of the Lord of the Rings the Two Towers, if you want to know the extra features in The Two Towers Extended Edition, you can find that here.

Additionally, we have covered the Two Towers book written by J.R.R. Tolkien that you can find here to see how it compares to the movie. This movie has many things missing from the book and the order is set differently as well so we encourage you to check it out!

Finally, as Two Towers is the second movie in the Trilogy, you can find our review of Lord of the Rings The Fellowship of the Ring here.

The Characters in Lord of the Rings The Two Towers

The Lord of the Rings the Two Towers brings many new characters into the picture as the broken fellowship venture into the land of the horse lords. This land is Rohan and their king Théoden played by Bernard Hill has been stricken with an evil presence that clouds his mind. Bernard Hill does such a fantastic job as the King of Rohan that I could not imagine anyone else in this role.

Other notable new characters to the trilogy that were not previously in the Fellowship of the Ring are Eowin the daughter of Theoden(played by Miranda Otto) and her cousin Eomer who is played by Karl Urban. Both fit well in the Rohirrim country.

The Story in Lord of the Rings the Two Towers

The story that takes place in Lord of the Rings the Two Towers covers 3 separate plotlines. There is the Mary and Pippin plotline, the Broken Fellowship which consists of Gimli, Legolas and Aragon, and finally there is the Ring Bearer story that follows Frodo, Sam and the creature Gollum.

Starting off with the Mary and Pippin plotline, from the beginning to the end of this film, this plotline is the slowest. It could be intentionally done due to the interactions with the tree ents like Tree Beard (also voiced by John Reis Davis).

Mary and Pippin enter the movie having previously been captured by the Uruk-hai that attacked and shattered the fellowship in the Fellowship of the Ring.

Their story covers the iteration with the Uruk-hai as they travel back to Isengard and deliver the hobbits to the wizard Saruman.

There are some great scenes as these two characters are always good at bouncing off each other, most of these scenes are actually only available in the extended edition version of the film like the drinking from the springs in Fangorn Forest.

Overall this portion of the film though feels more like necessary padding to the film had the action that takes place in the later portion in fellowship storyline with the epic battle at Helms Deep.

That brings me to the Fellowship storyline. Aragon, Gimili and Legolas are in pursuit of the Uruk-hai in order to save the two hobbits from being taken to Isengard. This story quickly turns into attempting to aid the country of Rohan from the tyranny of Isengard as the country burns at the the hands of Saruman.

Helms Deep is a masterpiece. This epic battle feels massive in scope and at the same time feels hopeless. But we get to see how Legolas and Gimli have grown to like each other as well as some pretty fantastic battle sequences.

Ultimately, this storyline in the film is the largest reaching and the main plotline to the movie.

Frodo and Sam’s adventure though being spliced throughout the film takes the back burner to the main story. They adventure with the help of the creature Gollum after catching him in the wastes as a means to help guide them to Mordor.

This is the storyline that also introduces us to much more of the Gondor forces as they attempt to hold the forces of Mordor at bay. We will be seeing much more of them in the coming film.

But the adventure feels to stay in place as Frodo and Sam take two steps forward and one step back.

With the introduction of Faramir in this plotline, we get to meet Boramir’s brother. In the extended edition there are more scens with Boramir, but the theatrical version leaves this character and his arc rather underwhelming.

There will be more Faramir in the future Return of the King movie.

Pacing in The Two Towers

The biggest flaw to the Two Towers is the pacing. Even the extended edition of the film does little to improve or detract it. The pacing is just slow.

This is because two of the 3 storylines really don’t have a whole lot of action in it.

The movie also suffers from being the middle film in the series where it’s not introducing the world for the first time, but it’s not really concluding anything for the series. That makes the story in this film not feel as memorable as the other two films in the trilogy.

Conclusion

Lord of the Rings The Two Towers despite being the slowest film in the trilogy is still a fantastic watch. With epic battles and growing friendships in the film. It’s easy to become more attached to the characters already present and set the tone for the grand finale of the trilogy.

If you are a fan of the Lord of the Rings I would still recommend watching the extended edition version of the film.

However, if this is your first run through the series, I would highly recommend that you stick with the theatrical version of Lord of the Rings the Two Towers. This film can feel slow at times and the added scenes of extended edition if not fully invested could feel like a turnoff.

You can purchase this movie for yourself using the amazon affiliate link below.

Stick around as we conclude the Lord of the Rings Cinematic trilogy with Lord of the Rings the Return of the King.