Is it possible to improve on perfection? Last year Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring was for millions of people the ultimate cinema experience.

The second instalment of the much-loved saga by JRR Tolkien does not disappoint.

It is packed with action, drama, pathos, humour, a bunch of fascinating characters, and the best special effects you are likely to ever see on the big screen.

And after three hours, you will be crying out for more - like its predecessor, The Two Towers leaves its audience with a cliffhanger and the promise of greater things to come. But we're going to have to wait another year for this story to be completed. You cruel thing, Mr Jackson.

The Two Towers is a darker, more intense, more sprawling episode. The Fellowship has been broken up and surviving members go their separate ways. Hobbits Frodo and Sam continue their journey to destroy The Ring in the fiery wastes of Mordor.

Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas pursue the orcs and uruks which have remaining Hobbits Merry and Pippin in captivity. Merry and Pippin, in turn, have escaped and end up in the clutches of a walking, talking tree called Treebeard.

And Gandalf . . . well, rumours of his demise seem to have been greatly exaggerated. Gandalf does return, but let's not give too much away at the moment.

The thrust of the story sees the human inhabitants of Middle Earth under increasing threat from the forces of evil, represented by the Dark Lord Sauron and first lieutenant Saruman.

As Saruman again creates an invincible army, the lands of Rohan and Gondor must prepare to defend themselves.

There are many strands to the story, but it is so well structured, and superbly adapted by screenwriters Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, that keeping up is never a problem.

This is also the case with the new addition to the already large number of characters dotted about the story. Chief among them is king of Rohan Theoden, played by Bernard Hill, and the strange creature Gollum, briefly introduced in part one but here taking a more substantial form thanks to some amazing computer generated imagery and a fine vocal interpretation by actor Andy Serkis, helping to make Gollum a character you loathe and pity at the same time.

But the most stunning part of The Two Towers is the battle of Helm's Deep, an astonishing feat of film-making that is a pure, thrilling adrenaline-rush, as a 10,000-strong monster army descends on the Rohan stronghold manned by its rag-tag army.

It's a perfect example of how to mix special effects and stunt work with the human element of the story as we root for the heroes as they face insurmountable odds.

And we just about get our breath back when we are faced with the prospect of something even more daunting - waiting another year for the conclusion of the story.