PREMIERE.COM REVIEW

Few films actually redefine the way we watch movies in general. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and The Matrix are exceptions: They all managed to transcend the sci-fi genre, giving us whole new ways to envision the future. Now, Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy seems destined to do the same for the once-moribund fantasy genre. Sure, it was never much of a genre to speak of — at its best, there was the Arthurian legend Excalibur and ham-fisted guilty pleasures such as Clash of the Titans and Conan the Barbarian. But that is all the more reason why Jackson deserves praise: This is not easy subject matter to get. But get it, he has. Jackson has done for the bow and arrow what George Lucas did for the laser gun — he has gloriously put on screen what was once limited to books and playground imagination.

Much of the anticipation surrounding The Two Towers centered on whether it would be as good as the first film, The Fellowship of the Ring. Rest assured, it is. Having lensed all three movies during one 15-month shoot, Jackson is able to maintain the same consistently rich visual palette, integrating the same stunning cinematography, costume design, and art direction, and utilizing New Zealand's magnificently varied environment, which makes it a perfect stand-in for J.R.R. Tolkien's wondrous world. The significant difference is provided by the development of Tolkien's story. With the land of Middle-earth under siege from the evil Sauron and Saruman, the fellowship — the valiant band of hobbits, humans, an elf, and a dwarf — are well on their way to destroy the evil Ring.

The advantage now is that Tolkien's backstory has been laid out, so Jackson doesn't have to get bogged down with exposition. (Jackson and cowriters Frances Walsh and Phillipa Boyens make a brilliant choice in deciding how to start Two Towers — a beginning that ingeniously drops viewers smack back into the tale as if we never left it.) The acting is more nuanced this time around, partly because the story itself digs deeper into Aragorn's (Viggo Mortensen) ambivalent relationship with the elf Arwen as well as his destiny as the future king, and Frodo's (Elijah Wood) struggle with the ring that hangs around his neck. There are also bigger, more elaborate battle scenes and new characters in the film. In fact, the success of The Two Towers rests on the latter's shoulders, particularly Gollum, the slithering reptilian creature who has been warped by the Ring, and, less so, the Ents, the walking, talking tree folk who protect the forest-both of whom are entirely computer-generated. As a childhood fan of Gollum, I felt that Jackson (and Andy Serkis, who does the creature's voice and movements) brings more to the miserable creature than Tolkien did himself, imbuing him with a beguiling vibrancy and depth of character. The Ents, however, don't fare so well. The story starts to drag around the second hour, particularly when the Ent named Tree Beard becomes a pivotal character, dragging the film into too-childlike Dark Crystal territory.

But with deft editing and screenwriting that effectively integrate the multi-story line plot, The Two Towers is an exhilarating event in a way that inspires comparisons to the films of director David Lean, who mastered the subtle interplay between nuanced character development and grand, epic filmmaking. In a day and age when nothing seems to surprise anyone anymore, it is a rare gift when a film goes beyond our expectations — and is so self-assured that it lets a pixel-powered, bug-eyed creature lead the way.

—Tom Roston