Toronto Screen Shots

Brooke and I went to see Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) this afternoon, and although I enjoyed it immensely, there were a couple of things I didn’t like. First of all, I resented the fact that Gimli the dwarf has been reduced to comic relief. I didn’t mind the occasional joke at his expense in the first film, but in this segment he’s been stripped of all dignity. Conversely, it seems like the filmmakers felt the need to make Legolas the elf a bit more macho, giving him some of the film’s more outrageous stunts. I found this shift in emphasis sort of cheapened the characters I’d grown to love in the first installment. My only other criticisms would have to do with the more episodic nature of the story, cutting between three different plot lines, but I know that director Peter Jackson did the best he could. My friend Brent, who’s read the books numerous times, was dismayed to find that there are many more deviations from the text in this film as well, though he hasn’t outlined them for me yet. All in all, I didn’t find it as satisfying as the first film, but it still has me excited about the finale. I just have to wait another 12 months!