by Ethan Johnson
December 21, 2002
It's back.
Just when you thought it couldn't get more sweeping, more ambitious, and more epic, it does all this and more. Despite claims that this movie suffers from "middle chapter syndrome", I again step boldly forward and say, "get over yourselves!"
While I'm boldly stepping forward, I hereby declare that Peter Jackson is the George Lucas of our age. Perhaps, to use a more fitting analogy, he is "Peter Jackson the White". Emerging forth from obscurity to become what George Lucas should have been, but isn't.
All that remains is for Jackson to storm into Skywalker Ranch and cast Lucas from the Order.
Star Wars II and The Two Towers have certain similarities, in that they both employ "CG" characters throughout the movie (Lucas more so than Jackson), and both have either epic battle scenes or columns of troops lined up by the virtual millions. But Lord of the Rings comes off as strikingly real, whereas the over-abundance of CGI effects in the new Star Wars trilogy is oppressively cold and synthetic. (So was A.I. at critical moments, but that wasn't a Lucas film.)
Bottom line: Jar-Jar versus Gollum. Which CGI character do YOU want to spend 3 hours with? Discuss.
Getting back to the movie: There was a scene apparently left out that was extremely vivid in the book, and I couldn't wait to see it play out on the big screen. I was let down. However, there is still a possibility that it might come into play in the third and final installment. I won't go into it because, like the movie tends to beat you over the head saying, there's still hope.
It has been said that the Lord of the Rings trilogy could not have been made any sooner than now, as the technology used in today's movies hadn't progressed to the necessary level of complexity. We heartily agree. This movie is so unbelievably ambitious, and what has been gratifying is that Peter Jackson and his virtual army of actors, crew, and technicians have pulled it off in a big way.
Naturally, this is another "must have" for our collection. The depressing thought is, I'll rush out and buy each separate installment, and in 2004 they'll come out with some monster boxed-set.
Yeah, like they didn't see us coming. <EM>
