The Hobbit trilogy is the Star Wars Prequel trilogy of the 2010's

[NyQuil]

The Hobbit films were always rushed, Jackson himself came out and admitted it because he wanted to use aging actors Christopher Lee and Ian MacKellan while they were still in the game.

As a result, a lot of the care that went into every shot of LOTR seemed to fly out the window, leaving it a disorganized CGI mess.

It lacked a lot of the gravitas of the original series - and while the Hobbit is supposed to be a bit of an adventurous romp, they were very few of those iconic scenes that resonated long after viewing.

Positives:

• They did a decent job in differentiating the dwarves of Thorin and Co. and they were well-cast, unlike in the book where only few are distinctive (Balin, Bombur).
• I actually didn't mind the Tauriel and Kili relationship and a little more for Thranduil and Legolas (why did they mess with his eyes tho?) Unfortunately, while it was decently executed, it really has nothing to do with Bilbo and probably should have been left out.
• They did a decent job of the lead-up to the battle of the Five Armies (with the elves, humans and the arrival of Dain Ironfoot)
• I liked seeing the White Council kick ass and take names.
• Smaug was well-cast and well used.

Negatives:

• I acknowledge that there was only so much Hobbit book material (they borrowed from other sources), but the fact that they didn't follow the book at all where the material existed was mind-boggling. For example:
  • Why was Beorn given such a small role? And why was Gandalf's story with the dwarves arriving 2 by 2 cut? It's a big part of the book. Beorn wasn't particularly burly, distrustful and intimidating either.
  • Speaking of Beorn, he was the one who ended up dominating the final battle in the novel, recovering Thorin's body. In the film, he sort of arrives, dropped by an eagle, and that's it.
    
  • Bilbo gets knocked out in the book and that's it. Now he's running around the battlefield being a hero.
  • The Arkenstone was meant to be laid upon Thorin's breast - not sure why they cut out his funeral with that poignant moment.
• CGI CGI CGI. The vast majority of battle sequences were indecipherable.
• Not a fan of Radagast's rabbit sleigh.
• The Great Goblin sequence was so over-the-top ridiculous and lacked any kind of tension at all. He even dies amusingly in comic relief fashion for some reason.
• They did a poor job with the Mayor and syncophant "comic relief" dude from Laketown. They were supposed to be cunning but ended up as fops.
• I didn't care about Bard's family. Why they had so much screen time is beyond me.
• They probably could have done the novel in two movies as opposed to 3. I didn't mind a lot of the extra sequences as a Middle Earth nerd but they took away from the tight and compact story that the Hobbit is supposed to be.

 

[BrockLobster]

Star wars prequels now seem oscar worthy compared to this latest dumpster fire trilogy.

 

[Finlandia WOAT]

I recently watched the Phantom Menace for the first time since I was a child.

I don't think I've ever seen a film that moves at such a breakneck pace while simultaneously giving the affectation that nothing of importance is happening. It's a truly terrible film.

The Hobbit trilogy is another example of the Stranger Things problem: 2 hours of plot stretched over 9 hours of runtime.

I thought this guys breakdown of the Hobbit trilogy was spectacular, as it's a great lesson about how to write action scenes overall.

 

[LarKing]

I hated the Star Wars prequels but loved the LOTR Hobbit series. This might be because I'm a Star Wars nerd and just a casual fan when it comes to LOTR though.

Still found them super entertaining and a great watch though.

 

[LarKing]

I recently watched the Phantom Menace for the first time since I was a child.

I don't think I've ever seen a film that moves at such a breakneck pace while simultaneously giving the affectation that nothing of importance is happening. It's a truly terrible film.

The Hobbit trilogy is another example of the Stranger Things problem: 2 hours of plot stretched over 9 hours of runtime.

Agreed. It's truly one of the worst movies ever. I remember they re-released it in theaters like 6 years ago or so in 3D and I actually fell asleep it was so boring. They really should've just started with the second movie.

 

[SeidoN]

I frequently rewatch and enjoy the prequels

I would never rewatch the Hobbit. was a chore.

 

[Ducks in a row]

Star wars prequels now seem oscar worthy compared to this latest dumpster fire trilogy.

Yes they are so much better then Disney Star Wars

 

[LeafalCrusader]

I liked the first Hobbit film the rest not so much. The Star Wars prequels were just bad. Biggest thing for me is the acting in the Hobbit films was so much better. Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage were both very good in the films. Too bad they screwed up the plot so much. The overall story just didn't flow. The acting in Star Wars was just so much cringe.

 

[Bandit]

Lord of the Rings trilogy is so much better then the Hobbit trilogy and the same thing between original made Star Wars trilogy and Star Wars prequel trilogy.

Prequels are usually worse because of the restrictions they have in what can be done and especially less well received because people know what happens later in the timeline.

Especially in the case of Lucas where he ignores his own cannon.
“I haven’t gone by Obi-wan since, oh, before you were born...”
Fast forward to Obi-wan being there the moment Luc and Leia were born.

the Hobbit trilogy was overdone in the fact that PJ and his team had the balls to think they could improve on Tolkien’s work (they didn’t) and then phone it in with a bunch of CGI garbage when PJ himself said he loved models and used them extensively in LOTR.

HOWEVER as mediocre as the Hobbit movies were, absolutely nothing is as bad as Medichlorians and “meesa people gonna die”.

nothing.

 

[HanSolo]

The Hobbit trilogy is charmless, overly long, and forgettable. I'll take that over the disaster that is the prequels.

 

[Do Make Say Think]

Star wars prequels now seem oscar worthy compared to this latest dumpster fire trilogy.

The Sequel Trilogy are exceptionally well made movies. The Prequel Trilogy looks like it was directed by a teenager.

People can argue all they want about the plot of the Sequels but as far as the execution of film-making goes, they are far superior to the Prequels.

 

[the squared circle]

The last 30 min or so of Sith is phenomenal.