![]() In Terminator 2: Judgement Day, James Cameron uses apocalyptic dream imagery to depict the stakes of Sarah and James Connor’s mission, beyond a vague destiny of “saving mankind.” The iconic nuclear explosion sequence shows the biological and natural connection between parent and child, making the fight not only between man versus machine, but nature versus technology. Sequels are often asked to be bigger and more spectacular than their predecessors, but great sequel separate themselves from the empty ones by using that extra firepower to build depth and complexity to its characters’ purpose. With these moments, great sequels take ideas introduced by the original film and challenge them further, leaving the audience to reconsider their preconceptions of characters and stakes. This isn’t dissimilar in its moral reckoning to the iconic ending of The Empire Strikes Back, where Luke must confront the discovery that the Dark Side is an inherent part of his own familial bloodline. When Sam beckons to him in Osgiliath, asking “Can you hear who you sound like?” when Frodo begins calling The Ring “his and his own,” it plunges their friendship and trust into a vulnerable position, where Frodo is beginning to cross the line of his role as protagonist. Sam begins to witness Frodo’s slow succumbing to the power of the Ring and his increasingly agitated personality, giving Gollum the benefit of doubt over his own confidant. While the trilogy has become a pinnacle for its expertly crafted battle sequences (who doesn’t love Legolas riding his shield like a skateboard down the steps of Helms Deep shooting arrows at Uruk-hai?) its middle installment never forgets to blur the fantasy trope rules of what constitutes good and evil. But even more than its sibling films, The Two Towers builds on the events of Fellowship to call into question the nature of war, death, and fate of mankind. ![]() The script for The Fellowship of the Ring does the necessary job of establishing the moral themes of the trilogy, that the greatest forms of courage are in resisting the dark temptations of power and greed. Instead, they lean into what make great movie sequels work by upping the moral stakes, building bigger spectacles that only go deeper on characters, and using unique narrative structure to build on the mythos of the previous films. ![]() Peter Jackson and his collaborators don’t simply adapt J.R.R. The Empire Strikes Back and Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan are widely considered their respective series’ zenith, and other films like Aliens, Superman II, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and The Godfather Part II have won a sizeable number of appreciators who consider them as a one-up on their predecessor.īut the middle installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is a masterclass in how to make a functional movie sequel. Jackson’s Two Towers isn’t the only exemplary sequel/middle installment in the canon of cinematic franchises. So each Wednesday throughout the year, we'll go there and back again, examining how and why the films have endured as modern classics. But there’s one thing everyone should acknowledge: The Two Towers is a prime example of how a “bridge film” can exceed its functional purpose - and become a standalone masterpiece.Ģ021 marks The Lord of the Rings movies' 20th anniversary, and we couldn't imagine exploring the trilogy in just one story. There may never be a consensus on whether The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the best of its trilogy. But good enough to be a sturdy bridge between the trilogy’s impeccable bookends. The Two Towers, on the other hand, was met with the industry recognition of “Oh yeah, that one was pretty good too.” Not good enough to garner Peter Jackson a Best Director nomination at the Oscars, like Fellowship and King, nor good enough to receive double-digit nominations like those two. This was no different for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, where the anticipation of The Fellowship of the Ring and the “last hurrah” of The Return of the King were both carried on as two of the strong points of the trilogy. Likewise, in movies, the first and last installments of franchises are the ones that often receive the most amount of fanfare and remembrance. First and last impressions are important.
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