2nd Time Lucky: 5 Sequels That Are Better Than the Original (No.2)

2 – The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Plot: The Fellowship is broken after the events of the first film and the story follows the path of the three, now separate, groups. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli have entered Rohan, a sprawling kingdom ruled by a King whose mind isn’t his own. Merry and Pippin are trying to escape their Uruk-Hai captors and Frodo and Sam are moving ever closer to Mordor with the help of the shady Gollum. All of this culminates in a barnstorming battle at Helms Deep, an Entish insurrection at Isengard and the obliteration of Osgiliath.

Why is it Better? A few weeks ago I argued that The Hobbit’s second adventure was much better for being ‘Ringsier’ in tone and I feel that this film defined the mood and feel of the trilogy more than the ‘Fellowship’ did. ‘The Two Towers’ was a benchmark, in a similar vein to Star Wars’ ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, and became a checklist for what films in Middle Earth should resemble. The separate plot lines offer a richer narrative, and whilst I do agree that I much preferred seeing the Three Musketeers getting Medieval with the bad guys to the ever-so-slightly melt-ish character of Frodo whining about his mission, the complete package is balanced perfectly. 

There’s enough clashing imagery and subtle allegory to make an English Teacher get hot under the collar. However let’s set one thing straight, this film is brilliant because it offers action scenes that have seldom been repeated in terms of downright awesomeness. Helms Deep is one of the best set pieces in cinema in my opinion, with a monumental scale peppered with heroism, loss and a layer of humour that is always amusingly ridiculous. Who would have thought that using a shield as a surfboard or chucking a Dwarf across a gorge could be so engaging? That’s not to say that the acting isn’t top notch as well; Théoden’s speech before the battle is positively Shakespearean and there is a sense of danger for the main characters throughout which makes this film more compelling than the first. The fact that teenagers like myself are still just as enthusiastic about this film as they were when it came out almost 12 years ago (yes, 12 whole years), suggests that Jackson’s formula was so entertaining that it has ensured that this film doesn’t just go down as an epic, but also a classic of modern cinema.