Now that we're extremely familiar with the movies, does anyone agree that it might have been better to put Shelob into
The Two Towers, you know, where she was supposed to be?
What actually happened in the film of
The Two Towers was this: Frodo and Sam stumbled through an achingly boring storyline with the pretend Faramir. A major reason Faramir is so bad in the film is because he had to appear as a threat to Frodo. And so they walk about a bit, go to Osgiliath, and end on the most disappointing cliffhanger possible: Gollum speaking to himself about how this mystery female could get the Ring for him.
*groan*
Here's what could have happened: the audience leaves the cinema seeing Frodo captured by Orcs and Sam all alone in Mordor trying to rescue him. Now that's an awesome cliffhanger!
Now I know that some of you will be replying
"O, but we can't have anything else happen after Helm's Deep!" Well, why not? Don't be fooled by what happened in the film. Helm's Deep was one chapter of the book,
one chapter. It was Jackson's choice to make the battle the be all and end all of
The Two Towers. Anyway, it's not like nothing happened after the big climax anyway. We had that whole 'Frodo offers the Ring to the Ringwraith' deal, Sam's speech, Faramir's inexplicable change-of-heart and a little tale about Samwise the Brave! O, and to mention Gollum's ramblings. Is this dampening effect really so preferable to upping the tempo again and revelling in some Giant Spider Action? Methinks not.
"O, but then The Return of the King would be weaker!"
Well, indeed we wouldn't have any Shelob action, and we certainly wouldn't have a ridiculous
lembas saga, but I think it is clear enough that Tolkien gave enough material to work with. The Tower of Cirith Ungol could have been a movie in itself, it just depends on how the director chooses to present it. We didn't see the Silent Watchers in action. Cirith Ungol was rushed horribly. And then we didn't even get to see Frodo and Sam with the Orcs in Mordor. This scene in the book was gripping and terrifying. In the extended edition DVD, this scene was pretty uninteresting and not scary at all.
So there you have it; I propose that we send Shelob back to
The Two Towers! 