Hope everyone is bearing up well under the continued quarantine, and continuing to stay safe and healthy!
I'll be continuing my look at the 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogy by looking at the second (And probably my personal favorite) entry in them, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.'
Unlike in the previous film, 'The Fellowship of the Ring,' in which the heroes largely kept together and there was one major narrative, the Fellowship is now divided after the death of Boromir, and as such there are now three different major storylines going on:
First up, Frodo Baggins and his friend Samwise Gamgee are continuing on their journey to Mount Doom to destroy the Ring. They soon run into the twisted creature Gollum (Andy Serkis), who had once possessed the Ring, which he famously refers to as "My Precious," for a long period and is determined to get it back. He eventually is convinced to help guide them on their trip, and we see that he is kind of wrestling between two different personalities, one friendly and the other not- so- much (They are differentiated by the fact that the latter personality is generally referred to as "Gollum," while the former personality is referred to by his real/ former name, "Smeagol"). They eventually have an encounter with their late comrade Boromir's younger brother Faramir, who is held to much lower regard by their father (Especially as seen in a wonderful yet sad scene in the Extended Edition in which the brothers celebrate a victory only to have their celebrations ruined by their overbearing father arriving and praising Boromir while nastily criticizing Faramir, favoritism at its worst), and consequently is eager to prove himself and believes that bringing the Ring back to their kingdom is the perfect way to do so. The Hobbits try their hardest to convince Faramir to let them go, not realizing that the seed of betrayal has been planted in Gollum's heart.
The second subplot involves the other two Hobbits, Merry and Pippin. We see them initially the prisoners of the orcs, as they were at the end of the previous film. They escape into the nearby Fangorn Forest, however, and meet Treebeard (Voice of John Rhys- Davies, who also plays Gimli), the leader of a race of living trees called Ents who act as kind of the protectors of the forest. As time goes on, they become determined to convince him to get the other Ents to help lay siege to the evil wizard Saruman's fortress. Eventually, they do so by leading Treebeard to see how heartlessly Saruman has wiped out a large chunk of the forest in order to get materials to strengthen his army. Outraged at this destruction of so many trees, an act he views as no less than mass- murder, especially as he personally knew some of the felled trees and some of them could talk like he could, Treebeard leads the Ents in a siege of Saruman's castle in Isengard, with Merry and Pippin joining in as much as they can.
The third storyline involves Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. They start out determined to rescue Merry and Pippin, but when they see that the two escaped and are safe with Treebeard, they go on other missions. They are reunited with their wizard friend Gandalf (Who we see survived his encounter with the Balrog in the previous film), and together set out to save the human king Theoden (Bernard Hill), whose mind is being controlled by Saruman through his vile and underhanded royal adviser Grima Wormtongue (Brad Dourif). When they help restore Theoden to his old self (I'll talk more about that incredible scene in a bit), they all together help Theoden lead his people to the much more secure fortress of Helm's Deep, where they are preparing for a brutal invasion by an enormous army of Saruman's mutated super- orcs. This group makes ready for the most intense battle of their lives to help foil this attack and save the people within.
As I said, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' is probably my favorite film in the trilogy. It works in so many ways. It has great character development (Which is saying something, considering how many characters it has) and nice moments of drama and emotional impact, plenty of funny moments to help ease the tension, and TONS of incredibly well- done action scenes, usually in the form of various battles between different factions. I think it balances those elements better than either of the other films in the trilogy managed to do.
One of the main focuses of the film is on the Battle of Helm's Deep, and it is pulled off flawlessly. We get a great anticipation for it early on as the various characters (Both the major heroes, and just the regular soldiers that will be aiding them in the battle) nervously prepare for it in various ways. Even when Saruman's army arrives, the two sides merely face each other for a couple minutes without doing anything (Other than Gimli humorously complaining about the fact that his Dwarven stature makes him too short to be able to see over the battlement he has been stationed behind and thus wants to know what's happening), as rain begins to fall. Then, a stray arrow is accidentally fired, and all Hell breaks loose almost immediately from this.
In the battle itself, the scope is immense. We see just how massive the armies are and how well- fortified (Other than one key weakness) the castle is. We see the different battle strategies that each side uses, and how they each adapt to the changing circumstances of the battle and adjust their tactics accordingly. I cannot imagine how many people must have been involved in this scene, from the countless actors, to the costumers, makeup artists, prop designers, set designers, and so on.
This battle also features some pretty awesome visuals of the major heroes proving their strength and battle- skill. We see Legolas using a shield as kind of like a skateboard to slide down a flight of stairs while pouring arrows into enemy fighters (And even arranging so that, when he reaches the bottom, the shield is propelled into the chest of one of the orcs), Gimli throwing himself from off the top of a shattered wall to help fight off an orc charge on the lower level, and him and Aragorn then launching a fearless sneak attack to stop them from breaking down a major door. There is, in addition, a nice little running joke involving Legolas and Gimli (Who have gone from being intensely distrustful of each other in the previous film due to the rather shaky relations between Elves and Dwarves, to very slowly becoming friends) having a friendly competition as to who can kill the most Orc warriors in the battle. Hearing Gimli loudly counting off each one he takes out never fails to make me chuckle.
This movie also is our first real introduction of quite a few memorable new characters.
Theoden makes for a great addition to the cast, once he is freed from Saruman's influence (Again, more on that in a bit). He's shown to be a good king, effective military strategist, and capable warrior in the battlefield.
Faramir is pretty interesting as well, seeing his desire to prove to both his father and himself that he is useful and capable of defending his kingdom, and how conflicted he is over this as he comes to better know Frodo and realize just how dangerous the Ring can be.
Grima Wormtongue works wonderfully as a supporting villain. Brad Dourif (Best known as the voice of the killer doll Chucky) gives him such a creepy, menacing, smarmy personality, making your skin crawl every time he talks. From the moment he first appears, you pretty much instantly get the feeling that he is a very dangerous person trying deliberately to lead Theoden and all of Rohan into ruin.
Treebeard is a LOT of fun. His voice and body language are perfect, exactly how you'd imagine a sentient tree to move and talk. He has some funny moments largely involving how he and his fellow Ents believe in doing everything VERY slowly (Complete with his catchphrase of "Let's not be too hasty") and the frustration this causes Merry and Pippin, and yet it would be impossible to not sympathize with him when he looks on in horror at the destruction Saruman has begun inflicting on the forest.
Best of all the new characters in 'The Two Towers,' though, is most definitely Gollum. Even though Gollum technically appears a couple times in the previous film, these appearances are extremely brief, with you not even seeing much of what he looks like. In 'The Two Towers,' he is front and center, and steals every single scene he's in. He is often incredibly funny, especially in a scene when he brings Frodo and Sam a couple freshly- killed rabbits to eat, then reacts with horror when he sees Sam cooking them (Gollum prefers to eat his kills raw). The odd split- personality he has with his "Smeagol" and "Gollum" personalities is pulled off brilliantly, especially in a scene halfway through the film when the two personalities actually have an argument with each other. Between Andy Serkis's performance, the animation, and the camera work, it almost seems as if it is two different characters talking rather than just one talking to himself. He's probably the single- best CGI character I've ever seen in a movie, the effects for him still hold up well after all these years, and between that and Serkis's performance as not just Gollum's voice but also acting as his motion- capture double and the on- set stand- in for him, it really seems at times like he could be an actual living thing.
My favorite scene in this film, and easily one of my favorite scenes in the entire trilogy, is when Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Gandalf enter the throne room of King Theoden to have words with the king. Saruman's toxic influence over Theoden (Through a combination of his hypnotic magic and Wormtongue's foul advice) has caused the once- mighty king to become an incredibly frail, ancient- looking man who appears as though the slightest nudge could make him fall over. Sensing something's amiss, Gandalf approaches Theoden's throne while his three companions fight off the guards and Gimli grabs Wormtongue before the gutless little creep can sneak away. Gandalf begins attempting to magically release his old friend from Saruman's influence. While Saruman possesses Theoden and has him laugh off Gandalf's initial attempts and threaten that "If I go, Theoden dies," Gandalf brilliantly redoubles his magic efforts. As he puts it, "I withdraw you from Theoden as poison is drawn from a wound!" Sure enough, it works, and Theoden is saved. In a truly breathtaking use of visual effects, we then see Theoden de- age and regain his strength and sanity. He, his friends (Including Gandalf and co.), and his loved ones all rejoice that he is back to his noble self, and we then see him give Wormtongue the boot as he should have done long ago. This was such a magnificent scene in every way. All the performances are spectacular (Especially Ian McKellen and Bernard Hill), the music in that scene is gorgeous, and it just conveys a great feeling of victory and renewed hope. We can almost feel the joy in the scene spreading out to all of us, as though we were right there in the throne room celebrating alongside the heroes.
I remember the first time I saw this movie, being disappointed and saddened at Theoden's initial frail and decrepit appearance. I mean, in the book, Theoden is old, but he's still strong enough to kick some orc butt when he has to. Then, in this scene, when the spell is broken and Theoden regains his proper age and strength, I remember smiling broadly in the theater and thinking to myself, 'Yeah, THAT'S Theoden! THAT'S what he should look like!'
Those are just some of the reasons why 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' is my favorite film in the trilogy.
There are a whole bunch of Scriptural lessons that can be taken from 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6C8SX0mWP0
(Credit for that video goes to the Youtube user EgalmothOfGondolin01)
As Sam points out, things can at times seem hopeless, like there's no way out and no way that good can come from our circumstances or things can ever go back to even remotely what they were before. For us trying to get through this pandemic, it can certainly seem that way. However, again as Sam points out in his monologue, the times of darkness WILL pass, and the dawn will shine all the brighter for it. Similarly, the trying times we are going through now because of the Coronavirus WILL one day be in the past, and our world will be all the brighter and happier for our having conquered it. This kind of hope and endurance is very much a Biblical trait, something that we as Christians should demonstrate. We recently celebrated Easter, which was all about that. The suffering, darkness, and hopelessness of Good Friday were overcome by the victory and light of Easter Sunday. 2 Corinthians 4:17- 18 says "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." The hardships we are faing now as a result of the quarantine are merely temporary, and in a time will be over, but the eternal glory that awaits us in Jesus is eternal and so infinitesimally better and more significant than our past hardships, which will by that point seem like mere afterthoughts.
Another Scriptural theme in 'Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,' which is especially relevant since last Wednesday was the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, is the importance of taking proper care of the environment that God entrusted to us. Treebeard at one point mentions that Saruman used to enjoy walking among the trees and woods, but lost that enjoyment when he became evil, hence why he came to see nothing wrong with wiping out large chunks of Fangorn Forest to gain the resources to fuel his army. We have a responsibility to protect the planet that God gave us. He put man in charge of the Earth, we the intent that we should be good stewards over it. While we are His highest an most beloved creation, He still has a great deal of love and care for plants, animals, and all other living things on Earth, and wants us to have that love and care for them, as well. Many verses in Scripture speak of the importance of properly caring for the land, trees, and animals. For instance, one which particularly applies to Saruman's devastation of the forests to support his army is Deuteronomy 20:19, which says "When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you?" God cares enough about the trees that He doesn't want to see them cut down in a war, a compassion that Saruman was clearly devoid of, but that God wants all of us to have.
An additional Scriptural lesson to take from 'The Two Towers' is the importance of resolving conflicts fast. About 2/3rds of the way into the film, Frodo is put into a position in which he is forced to lead Gollum to be captured by Faramir's troops (It was the only way to save the poor freaky guy's life, as Gollum had trespassed into a sacred pool, and Frodo doing this was the only thing that prevented Faramir's archers from simply killing him). Gollum is unaware of how close he came to death, and believes that Frodo had simply betrayed him, and of course doesn't take it well. In the end of the film, Sam tries to explain to Gollum what happened, but does so in an extremely brief and unsatisfying way that doesn't really convey that Frodo did what he did because it was the only way to save Gollum's life. I think that, if Frodo had done more to help Gollum to understand what had actually happened, things could very well have ended differently, and Gollum likely wouldn't have done the treacherous things he ended up doing in the final film. Ephesians 4:26 says "...Do not let the sun go down on your anger," and Jesus says in Matthew 5:24 that, if you are about to present an offering to the Lord but remember that you still have a quarrel with someone, that you should "Leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." Letting anger and conflicts endure without being promptly resolved causes them to get worse, for the anger and hurt feelings to fester and grow, which can have big consequences for you and others in the long run, just as Frodo not quickly and properly talking out his issue with Gollum led to a lot of problems for them in the next film.
A final major theological message that can be taken from 'The Two Towers' concerns the wonderful scene I talked about earlier with the exorcism of King Theoden. This is significant in a couple ways: First, because it is similar to the ways that Jesus would exorcise demons from the people they were possessed, such as how He saved the man who was possessed by Legion. Also, as I said earlier, I felt like Theoden being freed from Saruman's influence and changing back to normal was him regaining his TRUE self, what he's supposed to be like. In much the same way, when Jesus becomes our Savior and Lord, He does a very impressive transformation in our lives, helping to dispose of our sinful old selves and making us into our TRUE selves that we're supposed to be like. 2 Corinthians 5:17 illustrates this by showing that "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." I've indeed always believed that Jesus's main goal in life is to help us ascend and become who He meant us to be, the best servants of Him we can possibly be, through His miraculous transformative work on us.
There you have 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'. It's a truly marvelous movie which teaches us a lot of very valuable lessons on what it means to be a Christian.
I have one more thing to add, rather unrelated. Richard Smith, a dear old friend of mine from our seminary days, an Episcopal priest and an awesome guy in general, has started a new online ministry called "Binary Sunset Church" which seems to be kind of in the same vein as what I do here on the Nightcrawler Experience. Each Sunday, he performs a livestream online worship service in which he uses themes and concepts from 'Star Wars' to help communicate the messages in his sermons, similar to what I do here. While his services are Episcopal in delivery and liturgy and whatnot, the doctrine Richard preaches in his sermons appears to be pretty nondenominational. So, if you have an interest in that, check out "Binary Sunset Church" on Facebook, and you'll be able to watch their services at 1:00 on Sundays.
That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. Stay tuned in the next week or so, when I finish out this series with a look at the final movie in the trilogy. Until then, take care, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!
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