In theaters

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS. Directed by Peter Jackson, written by Frances Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair and Jackson, based on the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, 179 minutes, PG-13.

In “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” the second film in Peter Jackson’s mammoth, $300 million trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s 1,000-plus-page opus, the quest to save Middle Earth presses on as the Fellowship of the Ring – divided so spectacularly in the last film -comes together again in a story that conspires to keep them apart.

The film, which Jackson co-wrote with Philippa Boyens, Stephen Sinclair and Frances Walsh, earns its title from the two towers looming high at the film’s start.

In one tower is Sauron the Great, dark lord of Mordor, a mysterious figure responsible for creating the coveted Ring of Power, which its grim bearer, the hobbit Frodo (Elijah Wood), is fighting to bring to the fiery pits of Mount Doom. Only there, where the ring was originally forged in a gathering of evil and hate, can its seductive powers of world domination be extinguished and the ring itself fully destroyed.

In the second tower is the wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee), Sauron’s powerful ally, a vicious beast who has created an army so great, it promises to obliterate the fellowship and crush all of civilization in the process.

Without any introduction to where we’ve been before, “The Two Towers” immediately launches audiences into the middle of this story, pushing forward as if there hasn’t been a year between movies – or the distraction of our own war to absorb – and that those in attendance will be fully up to speed on where things stand now.

This approach might work for the legions of fans who know the series intimately, but for those who don’t, what ensues might come off as an occasionally dizzying, frustrating whirlwind of names and locals, the sheer number of which tend to muddy Jackson’s interweaving of Tolkien’s three separate stories: Sam (Sean Astin) and Frodo’s journey to Mordor; Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli’s (John Rhys-Davies) effort to thwart Saruman and Sauron; and the plight of hobbits Pippin and Merry (Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan), who were captured by orcs in the last film.

If the “Fellowship of the Ring” was padded with too much exposition, “The Two Towers” doesn’t have enough.

With so many characters, plots and subplots competing for screen time, there are moments when the film feels fragmented, emotionless and sterile.

This isn’t necessarily a fault of Tolkien’s, who told each story individually and linearly, but of Jackson’s, who has compressed the stories into a canvas stuffed so full, most characters aren’t given the necessary room to carve out a personality.

Indeed, secondary characters such as King Theoden (Bernard Hill), his niece Eowyn (Miranda Otto) and even Gandalf (Ian McKellan), who returns from the brink of death in the film’s terrific opening only to take a brief yet pivotal role, barely register. And if you’re hoping to see more of Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Arwen (Liv Tyler), you might be disappointed in the brevity of their scenes.

Still, plenty of room has been made for the film’s expertly conceived battle sequences, which is where “The Two Towers” shines.

Shot in Jackson’s native New Zealand, whose mountainous terrain and lush valleys prove perfect for the series, “The Two Towers” is technically magnificent, seamlessly blurring the line between what’s real and what’s computer-generated as Jackson mounts some of the most thrilling, superb re-enactments of war shot for a movie since D.W. Griffith’s “Intolerance” or Akira Kurosawa’s “Ran.”

“The Two Towers” is, in fact, one of the year’s best-looking films; its sets, costumes, makeup and digital effects are outstanding, well worth the Academy Award nominations they’ll receive. Particularly memorable is Gollum, the former hobbit whose lust for the Ring of Power has turned him into a shrunken, bipolar freak, a monster divided between the good and evil boiling within himself who reluctantly agrees to take Frodo and Sam to Mordor and Mount Doom.

Completely computer-animated, Gollum, voiced by Andy Serkis, is fascinating, a feat of showmanship of the first order. He has more presence and character than any human actor in the movie and his creation is nothing short of genius. When he’s on screen, there is nowhere else to look but in his wide, troubled eyes, which reflect all the drama, danger and intensity of Frodo’s quest and which give this second film in the series the emotional weight it needs.

With the final film in the trilogy, “The Return of the King,” due this time next year, audiences left in a lurch by “Towers'” intoxicating ending have two choices: Wait a year to see what happens in Jackson’s version or turn to the books.

Grade: B

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, Tuesdays and Thursdays on WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6, and are archived on RottenTomatoes.com. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.