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The actors do their best, but it's hard to suppress a groan when the action cuts to another scene of Treebeard talking in extreme slow motion. Whilst Aragorn and company engage in political issues in Rohan and fight off Saruman's forces (twice in the movie) in epic battles, Merry and Pippin spend most of the film on the shoulders of a giant ambulatory tree talking about stuff for hours on end. Merry and Pippin also suffer from the structural issues, though this is inherited from the book. The book approach (where Faramir avoids being influenced by it at all) is less 'dramatic' but makes more sense. It is unconvincing that Faramir, having started to fall under the Ring's influence, would then back up and let Frodo go with it. The problem isn't so much the idea - giving Faramir more to do and more of an arc is not necessarily a bad idea in itself - but the logic. This results in the infamous 'weakening of Faramir' arc where Faramir first decides to give the Ring to his father and then changes his mind. This forces Jackson and his team to introduce new material to fill the void.
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This problem is enhanced by the fact that a large chunk of Frodo and Sam's storyline has been held back for the third movie (where it does actually belong, chronologically), including the infamous cliffhanger ending. Jackson is forced to switch back and forth and this is indeed not as successful as might be hoped, with carefully-built tension dissipating as we move to another storyline at a moment of tension. Tolkien decided that switching back and forth would be distracting, so he held back Frodo and Sam's storyline and did it all at once. The biggest problem is inherited from the book, with the action split three ways between three different groups of characters. However, the film is not quite as successful as Fellowship. He also holds back on the CGI as much as possible to focus on scenes of actors engaging in actual combat and some excellent use of miniatures (particularly when the Deeping-wall is breached).
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Jackson films the battle with dynamism and allows viewers to follow the geography and ebb and flow of the battle with clarity. This informs the Battle of Helm's Deep, the stand-out battle of the trilogy and one of the most stunning engagements ever depicted on film. The set design and miniature work is also excellent, with Edoras and particularly Helm's Deep being extraordinary creations. Between the animators, Andy Serkis's superb performance and the reactions of his co-stars, Gollum is brought to life and utterly convinces you he is there in the film. The stand-out is Gollum, the most stunning digital creature creation to date (and so he remains). As with the first movie, the effects are excellent and even better than before, with Weta Digital clearly emboldened with confidence after their work on the first film. Little criticism can be made of the cast and their evident enthusiasm for the project and this helps carry the film over the bumps in the road. As with the first movie, it benefits from an excellent cast that gets even better in this film with the likes of Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, Karl Urban, Andy Serkis, David Wenham and Brad Dourif joining proceedings (viewers of the Extended Edition also get an early chance to meet the excellent John Noble as Denethor). Like so much with the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy this was a risk but one that paid off, with the film gaining immense financial and critical success.
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The Two Towers picks up immediately from the end of The Fellowship of the Ring and makes no concessions to newcomers: no 'story so far', no opening crawl and only a couple of brief flashbacks.