Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973)
the Two Towers film review, -- the Fellowship review, & Tolkien truths!

Return of the King -- was not all I personally hoped for, but the boys loved it. Translation: terminally lengthy battle scenes. You can't help but sit up and take notice the last 45 minutes of the film. The denouement reunites major characters but is as predictable as an honor ceremony for a Star Wars cast. Again, the boys didn't seem to notice. So it wasn't as forgettable as Godfather III, but had so much to live up to, we forgive Peter Jackson. We forgive, and again thank him and look forward to any future projects he may participate in.

Lord of the Rings filmmakers bragged, "The book of the 20th Century is about to become the motion picture event of the 21st Century..." Director/Writer/Producer Peter Jackson directed three major films simultaneously (the trilogy) which kind of tells you what a Tolkien fan he is. Finally, we believe the bragging was warranted with Two Towers; very glad that the first trilogy release (see Fellowship) didn't deter us from the second.

In Two Towers, Aragorn (Viggo Mortenson) again casts a spell on us. We wonder why there aren't posters of him everywhere, shirtless, for us old bats. His scenes with Miranda Otto are as magic as those of Sundance & Etta; decades later, someone produces the like. We now feel that Peter Jackson would be "da' man" to take on Catcher in film. How he made this film so relevant, makes Tolkien seem incredibly clairvoyant about current events-- anti-war and pro-war simultaneously, so that some lines (said to be original book dialogue) are simply haunting-- certainly an unintended allegory (?) --including a suicide bomber which will have us flipping our tattered Towers paperback to see if it was hyped. Are "the Trees" Sweden, Canada, or France?

John Rhys-Davies' Gimli the Dwarf portrayal was scene-thieving enough to threaten Viggo's superlative seat. We were certain Gimli was a Troll for all his appearance, until corrected by our eleven year old. Gimli gave great tale, regarding females, stealing yet another scene. Ian McKellan's Gandalf was positively inspiring this go-round. Another puzzling surprise (we couldn't place him) was Brad Dourif. We all felt for him in his first film role, as Billy in Cuckoo's Nest. What range-- no wonder we didn't recognize him!

Gollum/Smeagol sounded as we imagined, reading the books more than 25 years ago-- you have to wonder whether to marvel at Tolkien or Jackson for that little miracle. Literary adults paying attention to character names may be amazed at alias Gollum's Hobbit name: how close to smegma can you get? The character so like us all listening to our inner selves, it makes us laugh aloud.

Overall, the film had a hit-the-ground running feel, unlike the first. The overkill in battle scenes in Fellowship was not repeated-- Two Towers had a major battle but there were several cut-aways to other plot lines/scenes and the editing was properly done so that it enhanced the story.  Our fourteen year old gave his review: "Freakin' awesome" --high praise from the tragically-hip generation. Appreciate that the films were made simultaneously and not as Harry Potter's (see Fellowship ). The Potter 2nd film was obviously affected by the first, which wasn't okay in the case of Hagrid being honored as a stand-out; but all in all Chamber of Secrets didn't have the same heart, as the first entry. They musta' listened to the critics. (Cough). Leaving the theater we walked behind two young men where one was explaining to the other-- "Yeah, the endings suck on this series" but as we said in our Fellowship review below: "...it's a serial for Pippin's sake..."

Two Towers has convinced us to purchase the Fellowship DVD for Christmas to compare and view again. The cinematography was magnificent-- breathtaking scenes in New Zealand will make you want to go. So remarkably beautiful, that it was difficult to discern special effects or blue-screen work. A lovely, experience. Even Liv Tyler was prettier this go-round.

Fellowship casting included Elijah Wood (who mostly shags over his ear peaks) as Frodo, Liv Tyler as Arwen, Cate Blanchette as Galadriel (Liv & Cate are enchantingly all ears) Billy Boyd, Dominic Moynahan, Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, and Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins. You will very much notice Viggo Mortensen, who plays Aragorn (aka Strider): his bell-ringing face (with 30+ films under his belt) should at last, be launched.

Fellowship of the Rings, Film Review

The 10 minute prologue had us worried we were going to have to live with the barely adequate narrator throughout; but then Tolkien was infinitely more artful in what is known as exposition-- not spelling it all out prematurely, but allowing us to learn it on a delayed 'need to know' basis. That is-- he allowed us to wonder a bit, before learning. Don't miss our adulation of J.R.R., immediately following this review. On Gandalf's approach to the Shire, our interest is peaked, not unlike Frodo's obscured ears, likely protecting young Elijah's budding film career from early type-casting. Entertaining enough scenes of Bilbo's birthday event, with fabulous fireworks --which work best live, not on film-- doncha' feel techno-flares & camera tricks are cheating? But, awhile into it, we knew still hadn't made that "true" visit to filmland-- that sense you're there with the players, who don't seem to be "playing" at all.

Hindsight-- battle scenes were overkill, but one 12 year old said they were the "best part". What was the editor doing? It wasn't until a quarter of the theater audience were applauding the death of a "boss" that some of us returned to the plot-- because we'd wandered off to personal reveries --did he/she remember to pay the Geico bill this month? Still, Liv Tyler delivering a wounded Elijah across the river in the evil posse chase scene --magically, reminiscent of Moses, parting the seas: which became galloping blue & white horses to overtake our hero's  nasty pursuers. Cinematically speaking, it kinda' made up for the fireworks a coupla' hours back.

Groans could be heard at film-ending as though a rip-off, but not for the open-minded (it's a serial for Pippin's sake) we should expect an unwrap of loose ends. Cliff-hangers of Saturday matinees were discovered the following week. Today, kids have to wait a year or longer (think: Lucasfilms & Phantom). And Enya's soundtrack offerings should be forgiven too, given potential success as Titanic's soundtrack enjoyed. And you gotta' forgive language only glossed on, knowing Gollum in your mind's ear is the charm of the trilogy; so in sub-titling rare moments, we get to hear with our 'middle' ear. Tech problems prompted re-doing of the opening; techies can appreciate an unscheduled setback.

Go back for the next "book" on celluloid, Two Towers? In fairness, the Fellowship & Two Towers volumes were never our fave Tolkien offerings, but-- we wouldn't miss any releases coming for all the Bralda-hîm in Bree, Hobbiton, Lothlorien, Rivendell and Weathertop put together!

True, our shrinking minds wandered less, watching Harry Potter-- Sorcerer's Stone, probably due to pacing (er, did (J.K.K. :) Rawlings proud. There was a great deal of eye candy in Stone-- you should note production values in the Diagon Alley scenes. The two films, and perhaps all of both serials to follow, will inevitably draw comparisons.

Nonetheless, we enthusiastically applaud LOTR film makers, the cast  --and their dedicated hearts, for this mammoth middle-earth endeavor, of hobbits and elves-- the biggest, most vivid little people to date. Here's a more glowing review to catapult you off your can to the cineplex.

Why not get to know Tolkien? Read about this gifted creature-creator below.

On J.R.R. TOLKIEN:

Most of us only knew J.R.R. Tolkien by the withered and timeworn photo on the backs of our trilogy and Hobbit paperbacks, (which are incidentally going for about $10 per paperback, so we'd scavenged our stacks to find our personal $2.50 editions & looked for them at yard sales) and knew perhaps even more vaguely, he wrote the stories for his children. It helps to read 'em in order:

The Hobbit
then the trilogy:
Part I Fellowship of the Ring
Part II The Two Towers
Part III The Return of the King

Tolkien was an English language scholar, Old and Middle English professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. He wrote stories, notably The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, set in a mythical era and place: called Middle-earth, inhabited by Dwarves, Trolls, and Hobbits.

He's been largely ignored by the literary establishment, but treasured worldwide by readers, particularly by those cherishing environmental issues. As a youngster, he'd mastered Latin and Greek and became fluent in other languages modern and ancient, notably Gothic and Finnish. He began making up his own languages, for fun. He discovered old cryptic couplets and was inspired by a realm of ancient charm.

Tolkien enlisted as a second lieutenant in the Lancashire Fusiliers; married Edith in 1916. He did active duty on the Western Front, caught a typhus infection, recovered, staying with Edith in Staffordshire. All but one close friend had been killed in action; for them, but also moved against war, he'd begun to craft his tales. First son, John Francis Reuel was born in 1917. In 1920 he was appointed senior post at the University of Leeds. He and Edith had two more sons: Michael Hilary Reuel in 1920, and Christopher Reuel in 1924. He returned to Oxford, a Professor and chaired a Professorship of English, until his retirement in 1959.

Edith birthed their last child, a daughter, Priscilla, in 1929. Tolkien began writing the children illustrated letters and one selection was published in 1976 as The Father Christmas Letters.  He told his children many stories, which developed. He researched what a Hobbit was; from this grew a tale that he told to his younger children,and it was published as The Hobbit in 1937. It immediately hit; soon he developed it into something much more, a complex history-- The Lord of the Rings, in three parts during 1954 and 1955, with USA rights going to Houghton Mifflin. Soon, both author and publishers had very much underestimated the work's appeal: sales so exceeded expectations, that Tolkien regretted not taken early retirement. This was only hardback sales: The Lord of the Rings went into a pirated paperback in 1965 and the publicity generated by the copyright dispute brought awareness to millions of American readers.

By 1968 The Lord of the Rings had almost become an esteemed "underground" reference, in both senses of the word. Tolkien became wealthy and honored, but he abhored the idea: a cool trip was to "ingest" The Lord of the Rings and LSD simultaneously. Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick had similar situations with 2001- A Space Odyssey. Incidentally, Kubrick filmed A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess, who also was noted for making up his own languages, as any reader of his very novel, novel knows, eh Droog?

Fans gawked at Tolkien's house and telephoned all hours, demanding to know about Frodo's Quest, ultimate outcome, and such. Tolkien changed his number and moved, meanwhile 'fantasy lit' was soaring. Despite this, between 1925 and his death Tolkien wrote and published a number of other articles and essays; one Middle-earth related, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. Publications only temporarily slowed with Tolkien's death; Silmarillion, edited by Christopher Tolkien, appeared in 1977. In 1980 he also published a selection of his father's incomplete writings and referred to The Book of Lost Tales. Again, publishers were surprised by these successes. Additionally, twelve volumes of the History of Middle-earth, also under Christopher's editorship, proved to be successful.

In 1969 they moved to Bournemouth: in 1971 Edith died, and JRR returned to Oxford, and died on 2 September 1973. They're buried together in a single well-marked grave in the northern suburbs of Oxford.

The Hobbit wasn't exactly for Tolkien's children, according to one interview:
"If you're a youngish man and you don't want to be made fun of, you say you're writing for children. At any rate, children are your immediate audience and you write or tell them stories, for which they are mildly grateful: long rambling stories at bedtime.

The Hobbit was written in what I should now regard as bad style, as if one were talking to children. There's nothing my children loathed more. They taught me a lesson . . .

. . . Children aren't a class. They are merely human beings at different stages of maturity. All of them have a human intelligence, which even at its lowest, is a pretty wonderful thing . . ." --J.R.R. Tolkien (in 1967)

© 2003 R K Puma     rk@rkpuma.com
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