Having used the first film to magnificently, if - at times - a little too earnestly, set the scene and establish the characters, Peter Jackson now cleverly interweaves the continuation of the story as "Frodo" (Elijah Wood) and "Sam" (Sean Astin) take their evil talisman and make their way to the treacherous "Mount Doom" - alighting on the untrustworthy "Gollum" (a wonderful Andy Serkis) en route - to destroy it. Meantime "Gandalf", "Aragorn"; "Gimli" and "Legolas" must track down "Pip" and "Merry" and stop "Rohan" from being over-run by the marauding hordes of "Saruman". This is certainly my favourite of any of the Wingnut Productions - the drama is compelling, exciting and the performances from all really draw you into the jeopardy of our questers. The imagination of the author is now in full swing as battle lines are firmly drawn - even the mud seems to be taking sides; the trees certainly do! The CGI is less effective in this film; particularly when used against the close up and the "Treebeard" scenes where it is oddly static and sterile, but the siege and battle scenes at "Helm's Deep", some poignant bonding moments between the elf and his dwarf companion and again the terrific accompaniment from Howard Shore make this, for my money, one of the best adventure films ever made. The director's cut - at a meagre 235 minutes - flew by on the big screen and sets it all up for a gripping finale in "Return of the King".
