The Two Towers (Extended Edition) in 25 Words or Less
Of the three, most improved by the extended cut. The accomplishment of Gollum is without equal, and will be for years or decades. Grade: A
Comments
I think "Two Towers" is the film most positively changed in its second cut. The theatrical edition contains scenes it doesn't need, in my opinion, while the extended edition contains scenes that should've been retained in the theatrical release.
Peter Jackson does not have the cross-cutting fu of other epic filmmakers. (Make fun of Lucas if you want, but the man can cross-cut.) In Jackson's hands, especially, I think it would've been best to keep cross-cutting to a minimum and tell the story in something almost approximating the three separate tales of the book. It's never been done before, so why not try it in this trilogy, where so many other new things were being attempted?
"Two Towers" is a meandering, uneven and often inelegant experience that makes up for it in other places. I don't accept the "second in a trilogy" defenses for any of its problems. "Return of the King" has similar problems, but on a grander scale.
I just can't get over how they dumb-o-fied my favorite character from the books: Faramir. Why can't one freaking Human see the ring for what it is? In the book, Faramir guesses the Hobbits are carrying the ring and gets them the hell on their way to avoid temptation. For some reason a stupidly dysfuntional family element needed to be added in the film. At least in the extended version we see enough detail to help explain Faramir's stupidity, but it seemed very arbitrary and left a bad taste in my mouth.