Went to see “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” today. One word: WOW! With the introduction of some new characters and reuniting of old ones, the second movie in the trilogy held true to the book trilogy much like the first movie. Of course, there are some things that just can’t be done in a movie that are easily covered in a book and vice versa. But the movie was as true to the book as a movie can be - granted it has been over 10 years since I had read the book.

I won’t divulge more than the trailers have shown, but I will say that the principal actors once again did a great job. Elijah Wood (from nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa) as Frodo Baggins - you can literally feel the pain and the weight of the ring as the movie moved on. Sean Astin as Sam Gamgee does a great job as a trusted and faithful friend to Frodo; he can see what the ring is doing to his friend but can do nothing to help. Viggo Mortensen was a wise choice for Aragorn; he portrays the valor of kings and the human capacity for self-doubt quite well in this one. Ian McKellen as Gandalf (of course he makes a comeback - what good wizard could not?) is amazing and proves once again that he is one of the best actors of our time. Orlando Bloom as Legolas and John Rhys-Davies as Gimli are great - I remembered the “contest” they had at Helm’s Deep to see who could kill the most orcs, adding a bit of comic relief to a grim part of the tale. Dominic Monaghan as Merry and Billy Boyd as Pippin play somewhat smaller roles here but still have a part to play in the movie other than orc bait. Christopher Lee as Saruman once again shows he can play the “good guy gone bad” with the best of them. This movie also introduces us to Bernard Hill as Theoden, King of Rohan; Brad Dourif as Grima Wormtongue, aid to Theoden but actually ally of Saruman; and Miranda Otto as Eowyn, neice of Theoden (who seems to have feelings for Aragorn immediately - kind of like my wife!).

Once again special effects, especially computer generated and enhanced special effects, are of great aid to the movie. The list of computer generated characters is quite impressive. It must have taken a lot of hours to perfect the images we see on the screen. We actually meet Gollum (Smeagol), voiced by Andy Serkis. Also, the Nazgul are riding dragons instead of their black horses. We meet the Ents, a race of Treeherders. We also first see Wargs, a kind of wolf/hog/horse that orcs ride into battle. To say that special effects dominated the movie would not be right; the acting was top-notch. However, without the special effects the movie would not have been as close to the book as it might have been otherwise. I have seen the animated version and it was pretty lame compared to this. I have seen many movies recently where the action and effects are the movie (The Scorpion King comes to mind) and the acting is barely high-school quality. This movie does not fall into that category.

All in all the story is magnificently told and true to the book. So far, Peter Jackson is true to the J.R.R Tolkien fantasy novels as anyone could hope for. I am already looking forward to the final of the trilogy - Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King. I give this movie a 9.