Over the weekend, I went to see the new Hobbit movie!
I want to preface this by saying that I am a fan of The Hobbit and LotR. I like the movies a lot, too. Possibly better than the books in some ways, but that's a discussion for another Nerdy Ravings post.
I liked this movie. (Well, Benedict Cumberbatch's voice--where's bad??). And I love Legolas, so really any time he is on screen, I'm a happy bear. Even though he's not supposed to be there.
My main issue is that Peter Jackson is determined to drag this one little book into three different movies. Fine. I think he's only doing that because he missed that bandwagon when he did the LotR series. Maybe that's just me. And while I am alright with having another movie to look forward to, he seems to be struggling to put in all sorts of filler material: see Legolas, Tauriel, changing plot lines, and so forth. And I just want to know why you would cut out ALL of these other scenes from the book just to fill it with made up junk.
Not that it's all junk, but honestly! So much of the actual book stories are completely cut, only to have them desperately (in my opinion) try to add more filler and action sequences. This seems so very unnecessary! The material is already there! Why can't you use that? I would have loved to see everything with Beorn as it was supposed to be. What about the dwarves loosing the road in Mirkwood and trying to follow the elves? What about Bilbo luring the giant spiders away with his voice so he could rescue his friends? Why cut all of that just to make up other things to fill up the time and space?? I just don't understand.
Alright, that was my mini rant. Otherwise, I liked it. Some of it was a little to action-y for my tastes. But I LOVE watching Orlando Bloom as Legolas when he does fight scenes. That man works hard to look so graceful. I love it. The romance between Tauriel and Kili was charming, I thought.
Some girl behind me (she was annoying throughout the movie) kept saying at the end, "But a dwarf and and elf?! That's just not OK. Just not OK." Et cetera, et cetera. But she had no reason except that it was, apparently, just not right. Great reason, eh? And I don't know why it matters anyway. She probably hasn't read the books. She was dumb. I liked it. (Plus, we had been refering to Tauriel as "Legolas' girlfriend," which made me want to hurt her, because he's mine! So now I can like her.) I did like seeing a strong woman and a strong female elf. Not that Arwen was weak at all, but she wasn't a fighter. And I do so love archers...
I won't ruin anything else. There were a few little issues, but overall I liked it.
I read an interesting review that questioned the apparent need to add and intensify the violence in the movie: what I call "orc gore". It's a time honored tradition to de-humanize some foreign, external "them" so that the violence is more palatable, but Tolkien's Hobbit described confusing and BRIEF "action" sequences, which contrasts sadly with much of the film. It shouldn't be an action movie. Also, Bilbo seemed much diminished as the central character, which is stupid because the actor is perfect for the role...*sigh*. Smaug was awesome; I'm almost willing to forgive the movie its faults just for the joy of seeing that character come to life...almost.
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