Like Empire Strikes Back, the Two Towers shines from its darkness. In a way though it's not really the same thing. They're both bleak, but Towers pushes its Pawns so surely along toward where we know they'll end up. Empire is a deeper embracing of the dark with its ending, but the darkness of Towers paints the frame in murkiness (murk?) for the whole film. Be careful walking out into a bright light after watching this one for the almost four hours of the extended version. At this point I'm getting over the changes in the story, which isn't to say they don't bother me, but hey, I'm getting immersed here.