Word: mckellen
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...performances by X2’s cast are fairly spotty, with many of the actors sitting through their roles, but the highlights give the film much of its creative energy. Ian McKellen sheds the nuances of his role as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings and digs into his portrayal of Magneto with gusto. Hugh Jackman again embodies the tortured hostility of Wolverine, right down to the ferocious snarl. Perhaps the most unusual casting decision was to consign the eccentric, effeminate Alan Cumming to the role of Nightcrawler, a blue-skinned mutant who can teleport himself and anyone...
...MCKELLEN is sitting backstage at London's Lyric Theatre, a prestigious venue that overlooks the Windmill strip club in sex-driven Soho. Far from being perturbed by the district, or even the cockroach trap on his dressing-room floor, the star of The Lord of the Rings and The X-Men - two of Hollywood's biggest franchises - is gleeful about returning to the West End after 13 years to perform in Strindberg's The Dance of Death, which opens March 4. "I'm so excited about working in this street," he says. "The strip club is next door...
...here! Like a parent reading his kids their favorite story, Peter Jackson begins the second enthrallment in his version of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy just about where The Fellowship of the Ring left off. It's a literal cliff-hanger: the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) clinging to a precipice and falling--to his doom? And now, on with the story...
...dozens of major characters introduced a year ago in The Fellowship of the Ring, or of the great quest they are bound to serve or thwart. Instead, director and co-writer Jackson begins Part II with a flashback to a literal cliff-hanger: the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) clinging to a precipice and falling, perhaps to his doom. Then, on with the story! That's how sure of himself Jackson is. His grand notion was always to film the entire trilogy in one gigantic 15-month shoot, and to make of it three separate but seamless movies, each one minutely...
...answer is yes, or at least probably. Fellowship was often quiet and deliberately paced. Two Towers is an unabashed action film. Even Ian McKellen, as the wizard Gandalf, does his share of fighting. Those who appreciate the finer points of Tolkien's work may be taken aback by the new film's high-tech grandiosity. "It's impressive," says Two Towers star Viggo Mortensen, "but if you have that much emphasis on special effects, it's unavoidable that you'll lose some of the poetry and intimacy of the story." Still, those who prefer grunting, beastly warriors brandishing scimitars...