The second film in the LOTR series picks up right where Fellowship left off. Frodo and Sam are trying to reach Mount Doom in an effort to destroy the One Ring; Aragon and friends find themselves defending a last stronghold of Men while looking for the other two hobbits, Merry and Pipin.

A spectacularly rich film, visually stunning and emotionally bold. All the action of the first film with twice the human drama. We get to see much more of Gollum, a creature who made only a very brief appearance in Fellowship; he is a fantastically CGI rendered creature who posses the full range of emotions and facial expressions to convince us he is real. This character also provides much of the emotion in the film.

Aragon grows into a true champion of the people and a remarkable hero in The Two Towers; he is the Han Solo of Middle-Earth. I'd love to see Viggio Morreston get an Oscar nomination here. Who doesn't love Gimili, a humorous and blindly brave dwarf? The elf, Legalois is equally entertaining as a skilled bowman and loyal friend. Their heroic actions are inspiring and provide much of the action in Towers.

The Tree Giants Merry and Pipin take up with could be considered to look child-like. Besides being accurate to the book descriptions of these creatures, I rather think their appearance lends to their peaceful nature.

Lastly we see that Frodo is more and more becoming a servant to the Ring's power. His growing empathy for Gollum, is intrinsic of his own future he sees foreshadowed.

There are various other plot points that are worthy of discussion if space allowed. So I will say this regarding the plot in general. There is a whole lot happening here, but nothing is wasted. We meet new characters and see into the past of existing characters but it is all understandable and aids in the development of this rich tale that will become the greatest screen trilogy since Star Wars. (apologies for making two references)

This is why we got to the movies, folks.

Directed by Peter Jackson.