NyQuil
Big F$&*in Q
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:
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.
- 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.
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