The Daily Mail

Not only is this head and shoulders above the other films of 2002; it is going to inspire a whole new generation of movie-goers and film-makers with the magic that only the cinema can create. It's fabulous and fantastic, in the truest sense of these words.

The Daily Express

The final sequences as the ancient walking trees, The Ents, march on Saruman at Isengard - which had the potential to build into pure farce - are simply nail-biting. The Two Towers is a must-see for Christmas and is a rare sequel that outstrips its predecessor.

The Sun

So how good is this film? Well, put it this way. Fact is, for the entire two hours and 59 minutes, the only thing that mattered in my life was plain gold ring on a chain round the neck of a short guy with pointed ears and hairy feet.

The Independent

It's hard not to be awed at the sheer scale of The Two Towers. Shooting in Jackson's native New Zealand, the camera sweeps massively over mountain ranges, forests thick with foreboding and valleys with bristling with armies on the march; landscapes sprawl in wide perspectives worthy of Casper David Friedrich's romantic 19th Century vistas.

The Times

What we don't get is close and consistent tension. Like most trilogies, The Lord of the Rings sags in the middle. Jackson's middle episode is a vast schematic piece of action with large damp patches of wooden acting. The camera seems forever on a horizon, gazing across distant plains at humourless armies of yodelling orcs. At times it feels like a giant game of toy soldiers.

The Guardian

Its three-hour running time flags mildly during the tree-hugging interludes, the thunderous final battle scene perhaps beats you over the head for a few minutes longer than is strictly necessary, and Legolas - frankly - is a self-satisfied bore. But in all other respects, The Two Towers stands as a majestic second instalment: a saga of pace and weight that runs on a kind of demented, wing-and-a-prayer ambition. In going from worse to worse, The Lord of the Rings trilogy just got even better.