I’ve just returned from Wellington, where I saw the cast and crew screening of the second movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Two Towers. And it’s _all class_. Another lengthy offering from Peter Jackson, this one clocks in at 3hours. But I didn’t notice the length, because I was thoroughly engrossed in the film. Is is, in my opinion, superior to the first movie in many places, groundbreakingly excellent in many other places … and a little bit painful in some places. I can’t go into any real detail, due to pesky non-disclosure agreements, as well as a promise to a friend. However…
Gollum is The Shit. Forget Yoda. Forget Jar-Jar fucking Binks. Forget Wibbly or Nibbly or Wobbly or whatever the Harry Potter House Elf is called. Gollum, a 100% CGI creature, _IS_ a supporting character in this film, and he is _excellent_. You forget he’s CG, and that’s something I never did with any of the previously mentioned constructs. Gollum alone deserves an oscar.
Helms Deep. This is _the_ best large-scale fight scene I have ever seen. Hell yes. I can’t wait to see the stuff in the third movie at Minas Tirith.
The Ents are great.
Ah hell, you know what, it’s ALL great.
However.
Tolkien purists are going to _spit_ over this movie. Fellowship stayed pretty true to the story, with the exception of deleting some parts (and rightly so in my opinion … so long Bombadil, you god-damn hippie) however in The Two Towers Jackson and the other writers make considerable changes from the source material …Including some outright shifts in the temprament of at least one character that I didn’t really like, and a LOT of changes to the story. You’ll know which bits I mean when you see it.
And after the movie, off I go to Weta Digital, where I finally get to see … a bunch of stuff that I REALLY can’t tell you about, for more pesky non-disclosure reasons. However, I’d work there in a heartbeat, just to get “Weta Digital” on my C.V.
A good day.
Oh, and the cast and crew watching the movie broke into spontaneous applause in at least two places that I remember – The Bit Where Legolas Does That Thing Getting On The Horse, and after Gollum’s argument with himself. Watch for these bits. 🙂