Synopsis: Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) are making their way towards Mordor. The creature known as Gollum (Andy Serkis), who formerly owned the Ring and has been following Frodo is now their guide.
After approaching the Black Gate of Mordor, Gollum convinces Frodo to try a different way into Mordor that he knows about. Frodo takes Gollum's advice, and the proceed south. Along the way, the group is captured by Boromir's brother Faramir (David Wenham). Faramir intends to take Frodo to Gondor's capital Minas Tirith.
At the ruined city of Osgiliath, Faramir and his men are attacked by Nazgul. The attack opens Faramir's eyes to the evil that the Ring can inflict upon Gondor. Thus, Faramir, and he allows Frodo, Sam and Gollum to continue their journey towards Mordor.
Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys Davies) continue their pursuit of the Orcs who kidnapped Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd).
Merry and Pippin eventually escape and make their way to Fangorn Forest. There, Merry and Pippin meet Treebeard, the leader of the Ents (voiced by John Rhys Davies). The Ents are tree shepherds, and Merry and Pippin eventually convince Treebeard and the Ents to attack the evil wizard Saruman's (Christopher Lee) dwelling Isengard.
Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli eventually meet up with Gandalf the Wizard (Ian McKellen), returned from the dead to finish his work. The four ride to the aid of Rohan, which is about to be attacked by Saruman's forces. Rohan's King Theoden (Bernard Hill) is spellbound by Saruman and his assistant Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif). Gandalf breaks the spell, and Theoden leads his meager forces to Helm's Deep to await the onslaught of Saruman's army.
Gandalf rides to find Eomer (Karl Urban), who had been banished by Theoden while he was under Saruman's spell. Gandalf and Eomer arrive in time to relieve Theoden, and Saruman's army is defeated and later destroyed in the Huorn wood sent by the Ents to Helm's Deep.
Review-
The Two Towers is, by far, a less satisfactory adaptation than Fellowship simply because Peter Jackson decides to make far too many changes that simply didn't sit very well with me.
Faramir taking Frodo captive and leading them to Osgiliath was one of these changes. This changes Faramir's character. In the books, Boromir falls to the power of the Ring, while Faramir is able to resist its power. It also adds the battle scenes at Osgiliath, which were entirely unneccesary, and forces the Shelob part of the story to be told in Return of the King.
Worse than sullying Faramir's character is turning Gimli into a comic relief joke. While true to the book that Legolas and Gilmi have a competition at Helm's Deep to see which of the two would kill more Orcs, I don't think either Legolas or Gimli would keep constantly keep count like they do in the film.
Probably the worst of all is the addition of the Elves at Helm's Deep. This was totally unnecessary, but was made necessary thanks to Peter Jackson cutting Rohan's numbers while simultaneously increasing the size of Saruman's army. Rohan needed the Elves help in the film, whereas in the book version there were no Elves that could help, and Rohan was on its own.
The Extended Edition does add much needed exposition to the story. I originally saw the Two Towers with my sister, who has never read the books. Watching the theatrical version, she asked me afterwards why Aragorn, Gandalf, etc. abandoned the search for the hobbits Merry and Pippin. In the book, this is easily explained but the theatrical film doesn't explain it very well. The extended edition corrects this error.
Overall, my least favorite of the three Lord of the Rings films.
