The
Cotton Club
Ring Bearer
A two-bit tour for ‘Two Towers’ novices
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Peter
Jackson doesn’t care if you’ve seen "Lord
of the Rings."
In fact,
the director’s openly said that if you haven’t
seen his first adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s books—"The
Fellowship of the Ring"—or don’t plan
to rent it before seeing the next installment, you might as
well stay home for "The Two Towers."
There
are no scrolling recaps like at the beginning of the "Star
Wars" trilogy, no cut together scenes from the first
film to comprise a Cliff’s Notes version or even a voiceover
explaining who or what you’re watching—you see,
"The Two Towers" simply doesn’t need it. Jackson’s
vision of "The Two Towers" is just as inspired as
the first film and even more amazingly crafted.
From start
to finish, the three-hour film flies by with scenes so massive
words cannot do them justice. Put simply, it stands on its
own as a modern-day fantasy masterpiece. But just in case
you still owe Blockbuster $8 for late charges on "Jack
Frost" or you’ve just forgotten what happened in
the first film, here’s a rundown you can take along
as a little cheat sheet. I won’t tell the director if
you don’t.
THE
TALE SO FAR:
Picking
up where the first film ended, Hobbits Frodo and his loyal
companion Sam are on their way to the city of Mordor, where
they plan to deposit the frighteningly powerful and corrupting
One Ring into the Mount of Doom volcano to destroy it for
eternity.
Unfortunately,
the Fellowship that formed to help Frodo destroy the Ring
is in disarray. Hobbits Merry and Pippin were kidnapped by
an army of Orcs, while the rest of the heroes, Aragorn, Gimli
and Legolas, are searching desperately for the two captured
Hobbits; the wizard Gandalf plunged into a canyon while fighting
a dragon; and Boromir was slain while fighting enemy soldiers.
And then
there’re the bad guys. Saruman the White is forming
an army of Orcs to destroy all good on Middle Earth, while
Sauron stands poised to get a new body and overrun Middle
Earth once again. A tad confused? It’s okay, Here’s
a rundown of the main cast to help you out:
o
FRODO BAGGINS (Elijah Wood)
Entrusted with the One Ring by his uncle, Bilbo Baggins, Frodo’s
withstood the temptation of the Ring longer than anyone else
has. Leaving his pleasant Hobbit village, Frodo decides to
head toward the fiery pits of the Mount of Doom—the
one place he believes the Ring can finally be destroyed.
o
GANDALF (Ian McKellen)
One of the most powerful wizards on Middle Earth, Gandalf
led the Hobbits through the Mines of Moria only to apparently
meet his end when he finally battles his darkest fear head
on—the Balrog, a flame demon. While Gandalf apparently
died in the first film, I’m pretty sure I saw him in
the trailer. Expect to see him again.
o
ARAGORN (Viggo Mortensen)
Pssssst! The third film’s titled "The Return of
the King." Wanna guess who the king is? This guy! Heir
to the throne of Gondor, Aragorn’s wandered Middle Earth
for years because of the shame he felt over his ancestor,
Isildur, who died after being tempted by the Ring. Coming
out of hiding, Aragorn now plans to help Frodo destroy the
Ring once and for all.
o
ARWEN (Liv Tyler)
Hopelessly in love with Aragorn, Arwen’s willing to
give up immortality to live the rest of her life with the
man who would be king.
o
LEGOLAS (Orlando Bloom)
As lethal with a bow and arrow as anyone on the planet, Legolas
can also sense the evil Orcs from miles away. Putting aside
his disdain for dwarfs and others, Legolas has joined the
fellowship to help destroy the ring.
o
SARUMAN (Christopher Lee)
The mighty and once good wizard Saruman craved power so much
he turned his back on the light and became a loyal servant
of Sauron, the most evil and powerful entity ever known to
man. With no physical form, Sauron survives on through the
One Ring that Frodo plans to destroy.
Check
out The Tolkien Six Card Set - Signed by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt.
WRITER’S
BIO: Mike Cotton is a staff writer for Wizard:
The Comics Magazine. For all the comic book news fit
to print, check out Wizard on sale every month at comic book
specialty shops and newsstands everywhere.
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The
Cotton Club Archive |
- August
7 , 2003 - HOLLYWOOD RUN DOWN
- July
31, 2003 - SPIDER-MAN 2
- July
24, 2003 - BAG MAN
- July
17, 2003 - Moore or Less
- July
10, 2003 - Ink Test
- July
2, 2003 - HURRICANE WARNING
- June
25, 2003 - BANNER BANTER
- June
10, 2003 - PETER DAVID
- June
3 , 2003 - PAUL JENKINS
- May
28 , 2003 - GEOFF JOHNS
- May
21 , 2003 - BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
- May
14 , 2003 - PHIL JIMENEZ
- May
9 , 2003 - Don't F[l]inch
- April
29 , 2003 - The X-Factors
- April
17 , 2003 - X2 Reviewed
- January
13, 2003 - Game Boy - WizKid’s HeroClix
- January
3, 2003- 2003 Bigger than 2002?
- December
20 , 2002 - Ring Bearer - A two-bit tour for ‘Two Towers’
novices
- December
13 , 2002 - ‘Sine of the Times
- December
6 , 2002 - Killer Read
- November
30, 2002 - Lex's World
- November
23, 2002 - Truth and Consequences
- November
15, 2002 - Triple X
- November
8 , 2002 - Giving the Devil his Due
- October
31, 2002 - Superhero DVD Preview
- October
25, 2002 - Mad Cow
- October
18 , 2002 - 80's a Go-GO
- October
11 , 2002 - Best Bets on Bats
- October
4, 2002 - Hunters & Pray
- September
27 , 2002 - The War Within
- September
19 , 2002 - Lee-Der of the pack.
- September
13 , 2002 - The Next Generation.
- September
6 , 2002 - Marvel Melee.
- August
30, 2002 - Breaking In. Joe Quesada reveals the ins and outs of getting
work at Marvel.
- August
23, 2002 - Painted Into a Corner. An Interview with Greg Hildebrandt.
- August
16, 2002 - X-citing News on X-Men 2!
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