Hello one, hello all.
As you may know, the sequel to the first Hobbit movie came out just recently (in relation to this post, anyhow). People I know have already given their opinions of it, and generally it seems to have a positive acclaim to it (save for one or two people, ahem ahem). But of course because we're on my blog, what do I think of it?
SPOILERS ALERT
So...this movie basically spans the time where they left off the last movie till the time they enter the mountain. The film ends on a horrible cliffhanger with Smaug going off to destroy Laketown, which of course (if you've read the book) is where he meets his doom by Bard. A couple of things I need to complain about.
First of all, the elves. Thranduil = pink explosions whenever you see him on screen. In fact, in that scene where he shows Thorin how he's been burned with dragonfire too, I found myself wishing he stayed with that look throughout the whole movie. At least we wouldn't be seeing rainbows every time he's in frame.
Then we have Legolas. Okay, I confess. I like to make my characters practically unbeatable too. But this elf? He's a god. Okay? Unrealistic. If anything, he loses perfection from the Hobbit to Lotr. Which is unacceptable if you want any semblance of consistency.
And, of course, Tauriel. Now I have to admit I like her. Pretty? Check. Great fighter? Check. The only problem? She's completely unnecessary. Seriously! Edit her and her 'wuv' with Kili out of the movie and you've lost absolutely nothing. At all. I'll explain more about why later.
Secondly, the blatant Deus Ex Machina all over the place. Coincidence after stupid coincidence. Guys, I understand that movies are supposed to 'work out' perfectly, but SERIOUSLY. This movie could have come up with a lot more imaginative and believable events instead of stupid "movie logic" scenes. Visit my fellow blogger Joshua Koh over at http://mysteriesleftundone.blogspot.com/ for more about that.
Lastly...the nostalgia. It's quite obvious from a few scenes that they're trying to remind you that 'Hey, Lotr is next'. When, in fact, all they accomplish is 'oh, look, um...lord of the rings. yay.' For example, the Sauron scene. Eyeception. Sauronception. Whatever. And then, of course, Gandalf being captured and seemingly in threat of 'imminent death'. Hey, uh, movie? I've seen Lotr, and Gandalf's in it. You can't fool me, hahahaha!
But in all seriousness, I wish they would keep that out. The Hobbit has its own flavor from Lotr, and while they are connected via sharing of the same world, they follow different storylines.
Here I'll start explaining what I don't like about what they've done with the Hobbit. Originally, the story is somewhat like a coming-of-age story. You have Bilbo, a homely little hobbit who never goes on any 'adventures' and consequently doesn't know much about a rugged life. Then he is dragged out his door on a quest to regain a treasure. Along the way he meets various trials and hardships, and we get to see him grow more confident as he goes, finally culminating in his bravery at the Lonely Mountain.
But instead, the producers have decided to throw in Radagast, Dol Guldur and the 'sorcerer' into the mix, along with Azog from the Lotr appendixes. They wanted it to have more action and tenseness in there, which while I can understand, distracts from the main character - Bilbo. To add to the confusion is Tauriel and her 'unlikely love' with Kili, which as I mentioned, is totally unnecessary and in fact, might just be a throwback to Aragorn and Arwen. It's not something I enjoy, and in fact I think Tolkien wouldn't be very happy with it either.
And that, as they say, is that. Do I still like it? Yes, I do. Even given its shortcomings. You'd have to work really, really hard to destroy the wonderful world of Lotr and The Hobbit. And of course, I do understand that the translation from book to film often changes things. I just wish they'd been more original.
Sayonara!
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