The sequel to the 2001 blockbuster begins where the first one last left off as the hobbits Merry and Pippin have been taken hostage by an army of Orcs, Frodo and Samwise are on the track to Mount Doom to destroy the ring and the three warriors Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimley are tracking the orcs hoping to save the two captured hobbits. Frodo and Samwise are not alone, though. They have captured a fiend that has been tracking them for days; a fiend named Gollum; an ex-hobbit who became a creature from his obsession with the ring.
The entire movie is a race against time because Samwise must help destroy the ring before Frodo goes down the same path as Gollum, Merry and Pippin must get to Frodo before he is captured, and the three warriors must get to Rohan before war ensues between the kingdom of Rohan and the Orcs. Once again, surrealistic Peter Jackson instills his unbelievable vision in this as we get to see unbelievable landscapes and beautiful lands. This part of the saga tends to focus more on the three warriors than the actual hobbits. We do get to see Frodo, Samwise in their drastic situation as they must cope with Gollum. Frodo pities him because he hopes he can save the creature as he becomes more obsessed with the ring.
We don’t actually see much of Merry and Pippin and they’re not in the movie much, but they’re scenes are very effective as they are rare. The plot with the three warriors is also lengthier as we get to experience more of Legolas’ and Aragorn’s friendship. This movie is full of incredible scenes of sword-fighting, cross bow action and unbelievable war sequences. I have to commend the special-effects team on the creation of Gollum for film, because he is the most realistic looking computer generated character I’ve ever seen. He is a marvel of modern technology as he screeched and crawled his way throughout this film. I was stunned by his look; at times I had to convince myself he was a character because his features are so real, it’ll leave you perplexed and stunned by his facial expressions. This is a masterpiece and excellent follow up to what’s amounting to a superb trilogy.