Teenagers could end up liking THE TWO TOWERS more than THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING since it relies more on computer-generated imagery and non-stop action to tell the story. The most interesting and well developed character this time turns out to be a CG character called Gollum (well voiced by Andy Serkis). Confusingly, Gollum is also known as Sméagol. With his split personality, the freaky-looking Gollum has raging verbal battles with himself. (The worst characters are some of the cheesiest tree people that you've ever seen. They look like they were adapted from a Disney animated movie destined to go direct to video.)

Speaking of confusing, whereas THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING was a complex tale, lucidly told, THE TWO TOWERS is frequently downright impenetrable. And, if you haven't seen the first one, starting with the second is probably hopeless.

After two-and-a-quarter hours have passed, one of the characters proclaims, "So it begins!" The movie finally discovers its raison d'être with a big, long battle sequence that takes up the rest of the time. It's impressive, it's stirring, but I felt like I had seen it before.

THE TWO TOWERS is entertaining, even if it is disappointing, clearly suffering from a bad case of middle movie malady. Let's hope that Jackson learns from his mistakes this time and makes his final LORD OF THE RINGS film to be a worthy companion to his first, which was one of last year's very best films.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS runs a long 2:59. It is rated PG-13 for "epic battle sequences and scary images" and would be acceptable for kids around 10 and up.