The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
New Line Cinema | Release Date: December 18, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
87
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 39 Critic Reviews
Positive:
38
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
89
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
God forbid this should ever play on an IMAX screen -- the concussive soundtrack and relentless visuals would likely strike viewers deaf and blind (but what a way to go!). Simply breathtaking. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The result is harrowing and inspiring. As escapist entertainment, it's the movie of the year. Read full review
100
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The miracle is that 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is better: tighter, smarter, funnier. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Seeing Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is like having a second date with the woman who made you fall in love at first sight. Read full review
90
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
One of cinema's most absorbing fantasies. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A rousing adventure, a skillful marriage of special effects and computer animation, and it contains sequences of breathtaking beauty. It also gives us, in a character named the Gollum, one of the most engaging and convincing CGI creatures I've seen. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Moviegoers should be almost as entranced by the teeming, glorious landscapes and dark, bloody battlegrounds of Two Towers: astonishing midpoint of an epic movie fantasy journey for the ages. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Most moviegoers will leave buzzing about the climactic Battle of Helm's Deep. But in my eyes, this is Gollum's show more than anyone else's, even the special-effects wizards behind the scenes. Read full review
90
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
The year's greatest adventure, and Jackson's limited but enthusiastic adaptation has made literature literal without killing its soul. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
What it comes down to is superbly staged battle scenes and moral alliances forged in earnest yet purged of the wit and dynamic, bristly ego that define true on-screen personality. Read full review
100
Film ThreatEric Campos
There’s no question here that moviegoers will be treated to a completely enveloping, three-hour vacation from reality. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyRussel Swensen
Falters precisely because there's not enough stumbling, and far too much striding gallantly forward. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
If the second film never reaches the highs of the first -- we have met the players before and there are no new worlds of wonder -- it nonetheless invests moviegoing with a sense of adventure. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
For now, The Two Towers feels like the second installment in what next year, when Frodo finally reaches Mount Doom and the story draws to a close, we'll surely be hailing as a masterpiece. Read full review
100
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The Two Towers moves faster, covers more ground, has more action and -- with the introduction of the marvelous character Gollum -- packs some much-appreciated laughs. Read full review
100
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Jackson has a genuine epic gift: Few filmmakers have ever given gross-outs such resplendence. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
The sequel's battle scenes -- especially the climactic assault on the Helm's Deep fortress by the armies of darkness -- easily put those of the "Star Wars" series to shame. Read full review
100
NewsweekDavid Ansen
What's remarkable is how immediately, after a full year, The Two Towers seizes your attention, and how urgently it holds you through three seamless, action-packed hours. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Jackson's superior sequel to last year's first installment in his Rings cycle - resurrects the beloved Gandalf (majestic Ian McKellen) and rejuvenates the audience, too. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
You will be heartened by the amazing sensation of watching one of the greatest works in the history of the medium unfold in front of you, piece by piece, year by year. Read full review
100
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Like its predecessor, The Two Towers is a great motion picture, and not to be missed by anyone who appreciates fantasy adventure. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Spectacular in every sense of the word, even if you don' t know an Orc from a Uruk-Hai. Read full review
90
SalonCharles Taylor
Yes, there are some "middle-chapter" problems, but Peter Jackson's Tolkien adaptation hasn't lost its devastating humanity, its heart-stopping cinematography or its epic sweep. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
An outstanding effort that maintains the integrity and purpose that distinguished "The Fellowship of the Ring." Read full review
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
A brilliantly conceived, boldly executed, cumulatively thrilling fantasy epic that expands the art of film and is sure to be the middle link of one of the movies' greatest trilogies. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
A glorious, visceral mess -- The film is, by most criteria, an ungainly piece of storytelling. Yet it sweeps you up and hurtles you along like water from an exploded dike. Read full review
100
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
What makes Towers so staggering is the way it brings the full scope of Jackson's adaptation into focus. Without missing a beat in three hours, the film shifts from epic to lyrical and back. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Both a triumph of design and cinematic engineering and, at the same time, long, repetitious and naive. Read full review
100
The Hollywood ReporterDavid Hunter
What strikes one more than anything in Towers is the material's dreamlike quality. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Never has a film so strongly been a product of a director's respect for its source. Mr. Jackson uses all his talents in the service of that reverence, creating a rare perfect mating of filmmaker and material. Read full review
90
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
The virtues of Jackson's trilogy, thus far, have been pace and astonishment, which is almost the same thing. [6 January 2003, p. 90]
100
TimeRichard Corliss
Towers, while not quite so varied as Fellowship in its moods and settings, has a grave gusto that energizes every moment...a thrilling work of film craft. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
This second installment is heavy on battle sequences, which will thrill some viewers more than others. Read full review
88
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Epic battles, spectacular effects and multiple story lines make The Two Towers a most excellent middle chapter in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Read full review
90
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Has a sharper narrative focus and a livelier sense of forward movement than did the more episodic "Fellowship." Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Jackson's movie is one portentous happening after another -- not unreasonable in that his source, J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy, is basically the fantasyland equivalent of a world war against absolute evil. Read full review
100
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Casts a spell and then some -- a ringing testament to the power of motion pictures.
100
Washington PostDesson Thomson
One fabulous Middle-earth show. Read full review
100
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Gripping, whole and nourishing. Certainly of the fantasy film series currently in American theaters -– I include "Harry Potter and the Secret Toity" and "Star Trek: Halitosis" -– The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the best, and not by just a little. Read full review
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