The Two Towers continues the story of Frodo Baggins’ quest to destroy the Ring of Power, and the movie picks up almost exactly where the last one left off. There’s no “When we last saw Aragorn, Frodo, and company” scene to slow the beginning down. After showing the second part of Gandalf’s battle with the Balrog, which is where we left him in the first movie, we find out what’s happening with the other heroes. The ring’s fellowship of nine has been broken, and Frodo and Sam must make their way towards Mount Doom, while Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli sprint after the orcs who have kidnapped Merry and Pippin. This begins the action portion of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

One of most fascinating parts of The Fellowship of the Rings was the amazing special effects work. Many of the scenes of that movie just pale in comparison to what we see in this film. In the last movie, most of the battle scenes were mere skirmishes, between the Fellowship and small bands of orcs. In this movie, we see all-out wars. At one point, tens of thousands of orcs are seen marching on, and fighting against, the human stronghold of Helm’s Deep. The wide shots of these scenes are incredible, with thousands of orcs milling about on the ground, arrows flying all around, and, eventually, the two armies clashing together in melee combat. Gandalf’s transformation of King Théoden from an old man tortured by evil powers into a spirited king was also quite amazing.

The truly mind-boggling feat of computer animation is Gollum. Like few primary characters before him, Gollum is entirely computer generated. Of course, you wouldn’t know to look at him. His movements, expressions, and interaction with the environments are fine-tuned to perfection. He has several close-ups, and even a monologue, where he is the focus of our attention. Not once during the film is there anything to make you realize he is not actually real. He is a real character, with a real personality. In one of the best performances of the film he has an emotional monologue where his good side and bad side argue as to whether or not to betray Frodo.

Some of the characters that played only incidental parts in the first film become more important and more developed in this one, and a new race is introduced, the Ents. These are enormous, lanky tree-people, who would rather just live alone in their woods than meddle in the affairs of the outside world. Eventually they are convinced to attack Isengard, the home base of the traitor Sarumon, in what their leader calls “the Last March of the Ents.”

While The Fellowship was about the skirmishes between small groups, The Two Towers is about war between nations. The main conflict is that of the battle at Helm’s Deep, where the few humans defend themselves, and their women and children, against the hordes of orcs. It becomes a battle of survival for humanity, against an army bred “to destroy the world of men.” Everywhere we go we see armies; of Gondor, of Rohan, of Sarumon’s, or of Sauron’s. This is the film that really shows off how epic the story really is.

Unfortunately, the plot is not able to go far in this movie. The story never really moves forward, it just sort of treads water. Yes, there are great battles, and great conflicts, and great journeys, but in the end we are no closer to a conclusion than we were at the end of the last chapter.

On the other hand, the character development is fantastic. The three previously near-useless hobbits come into their own. Merry and Pippin show their bravery against both orc and Ent, while Sam gives a fairly well-done monologue that helps to get their quest back on track. We also learn more about the love between Arwen and Aragon, and we are introduced to Faramir, the brother of Boromir, the fallen hero of the last film. We meet King Théoden of Rohan—who has left his people near defenseless whilst under the spell of Sarumon—and Éowyn, his niece. Sadly, Gimli is used for little more than dwarf joke comic relief.

In the end, The Two Towers is even more of a cinematic masterpiece than The Fellowship of the Ring. The characters travel far and wide, and we see much more of Tolkien’s Middle Earth than ever before. Most of the characters become more interesting than before, and many of the new ones are more intriguing still. The story is presented magnificently, and there are very few slow parts for such a long film. The acting and direction, of course, is still terrific. The action is, hands down, some of the most exciting to appear in a motion picture. And, I guess, most of the dwarf jokes are pretty funny.