Cinema review 'Lord of the Rings' (From Penarth Times)

Cinema review 'Lord of the Rings'

IS LORD of the Rings the next Star Wars? The answer seems to be no.

Why? Because it seems to be even bigger than Star Wars.

It's estimated that one in three people are Lord of the Rings fans, so with that evidence, director Peter Jackson had better do a good job on this one!

As the journey continues, Frodo and Sam, now split from the others, continue on towards Mordor to destroy the ring.

On their way, they are attacked by the schizophrenic Gollum. They make Gollum lead them to Mordor and while all this happens, a battle is on the horizon between good and evil.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with The Fellowship of the Ring, but I'll have to admit that I was no fan of it.

The Two Towers however, is twice as good in my opinion as the characters are now more developed and the action is doubled.

From his early gore fest films like Braindead, you would never have thought Peter Jackson was the man to direct the Lords of the Rings trilogy.

Now it's two episodes in, Jackson has proved himself to be a wonderful, versatile director as his cinematography is amazing and his tight grip on everything like characters and developments never loosens.

Lord of the Rings fans will be spending three hours (ok, maybe it's a bit long) in heaven with this film.

As Frodo's mental state is often questioned, you fear for him, and it's rare that you can actually care for characters in films these days.

All of the characters are in tune throughout with Ellijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin and Sir Ian McKellen acting their hearts out. But when is Liv Tyler going to have a scene worth remembering?

She was in about four in Fellowship and only about two here.

Oh well, that's the story.

The money-spinning sequence of The Two Towers is obviously the final 30 minute Braveheart-style battle.

During these 30 minutes Jackson delivers some of the most spectacular cinematography ever put on the big screen and you really feel part of the action.

The third and final instalment is out next year - hopefully it'll be even better than this one.