The "The Two Towers" Movie Thread - Like it? Hate it? Thoughts? (spoilers)

[NAHTMMM]

[color=#000000ost_uid0]Just recently I saw [iost_uid0]The Two Towers[/iost_uid0] again, and whatever failures it may have experienced in terms of following the plot, I still think it is a great movie. Not the greatest of all time, but still excellent.

Reasons as follows (keep in mind I haven't read the books for [iost_uid0]years[/iost_uid0]):

[*]The Lord of the Rings trilogy is really an epic story, and the movie reflects that. There's a sense of grandeur (the mountains may have something to do with that) and, well, [iost_uid0]epicness[/iost_uid0] in the movie.[*]Apparently Tolkien wasn't fond of allegories (so I hear :S), but Peter Jackson and Company weren't shy about slipping details into the movie to amplify or create perceived metaphors in the story, and often being fairly subtle about it too--something you don't see much of in movies today. The Balrog fight (they showed it again, I get to include it ) and Gollum in particular. They pulled that part of it off pretty well.[*]I really liked how they handled Gollum/Smeagol. They took some risks: he could have come off as cheeeesy or just nonsensical, but I think the risks paid off. He emerged as a fairly rounded character--you could see his "uncivilized" comments as being a result of an actual person, not just some weirdo's ramblings--and I don't remember much of that from the books, to be honest. I just remember him as being a misbehaving creature who was to be pitied.[*]NO SHELOB YET! [/list][/colorost_uid0]