On December 18, you will find me doing one of three things:

a) Hanging the tinsel and baking gingerbread cookies for good Christmas cheer.
b) Studying for my last final.
c) At the theatre, in line for the most anticipated movie of the year.

The answer, of course, is c). Even if I did have a remaining final, I would not care. After all, we’re taking about “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”, the middle chapter in Peter Jackson’s epic three-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s renowned fantasy series. I haven’t been this excited about an event movie since “The Santa Clause 2”.

But let’s be serious for a moment. “The Fellowship of the Ring”, released in Christmas of 2001, was purely and simply awesome. Now, “awesome” is a word that has been tossed around carelessly and all but sapped of its significance. I’m referring to the dictionary definition: to inspire awe and dread. “Fellowship” did exactly this; it was an adventure on the grandest scale, with beautiful helicopter shots of lush New Zealand landscapes (among other breathtaking visuals), rousing action, and characters that earned our emotional investment. Kiwi director Peter Jackson also pulled off something that, in my mind, is an accomplishment beyond all others: he gave proper weight and majesty to Middle Earth, and then transported us there, in amongst the elves and hobbits, the orcs and goblins. Tolkien’s imagination is wondrous and vast – the man created several languages for LOTR, and concocted not only his own Middle Earth geography but also and the races that inhabit it. I find his writing style, however, somewhat static and not always accessible. The visualization of Middle Earth that Jackson and his technical team presented in Fellowship was beyond my wildest dreams. Tolkien’s world had sprung to life in an amazing way.

So no, I am not a Tolkien geek. Currently, I am reading “The Two Towers” in preparation for the release of the film (just as I did last year with Fellowship). But I fell in love with Lord of the Rings when I first saw Jackson’s cinematic vision of the books. And thus, I’m counting down the days until “Towers” hits theaters on December 18. Expectations are massive, and I am sure of one thing: the quality of filmmaking will be equal to that of the prior installment. This seems like a safe bet because all three movies were filmed at once, and will all feature the same cast, crew and post-production wizards that made “The Fellowship of the Ring” such a marvel. The real question is: will this make for an equally grand film?

As a middle installment, “The Two Towers” has no distinct beginning or end. It also lacks the archetypal hero quest that powered the original film, with Frodo rising to the challenge of becoming the ring-bearer on a perilous quest to Mordor (essentially Hell on Middle Earth, where the evil and powerful ring must be cast into the chasm of Mount Doom to be destroyed). However, if “Towers” retains the emotional element that elevated “Fellowship” beyond the regular realm of a mere visual epic, then we are in store for something excellent. Some of my favorite aspects of the first installment are small, intimate, character-driven qualities, such as Sam’s devotion to Frodo, the communion among the fellowship, and the fact that Tolkien’s vision has always been driven by the recognizable themes of friendship, courage and rising against incredible odds.

Oh, and “The Two Towers” also has our first real glimpse of Gollum (the CG-created creature who longs for his “precious”), as well as Treebeard and his fellow Ents, and the battle of Helm’s Deep – which faces our heroes off against an advancing army of 10,000 Uruk-Hai, led by wizard-gone-bad Saruman the White. With three months of rigorous night shooting and uncharted visual effects technology (Jackson and his team at WETA Workship have created a program called MASSIVE, which allows digital warriors to fight independently) to its credit, Helm’s Deep is said to be the most impressive battle sequence ever filmed. In his review of the film, Mike D’Angelo writes: “....Helm's Deep, which -- this will sound hyperbolic, but I'm being earnest -- ranks among the greatest battle sequences in the medium's history. Not since Akira Kurosawa's “Ran”, certainly, have we seen martial kineticism of this caliber”. Yikes.

All of this makes me very excited for “The Two Towers”, and oh Lord - how I can hardly wait to follow these characters on their journey to Mordor and beyond.

Read my review of "The Two Towers".