The Hobbit II

[TheBitPriest]

Has anyone else seen the Hobbit TDOS yet? 

[Frodo]

Yep.  Not as good as the first part. 

[Ponch]

Yep. Still not clear on why a book I was able to read in a single day was turned into a trilogy.

[Ghost]

To be honest, even the first movie felt odd- watered down and blown upat the same time; I am all for adaptional extensions but here I felt they just wanted to make yet another trilogy of awesomeness. I'll still watch them all, there's something about a beloved book being turned into lots and lots of images.

[Stupot]

I'm seeing it in the new year (assuming my local cinema is still showing it).

It was originally going to be two films but they decided to make it into a trilogy just because they can.
I don't think even Jackson would deny that they're milking it a bit.

[Frodo]

The barrel scene - one of my favourite scenes in the book - got turned into an action fight scene, and dragged on WAY too long. 

[Ghost]

got turned into an action fight scene, and dragged on WAY too long. 

Yeah well, that's the movies. I mean, did Legolas really surf on a shield firing arrows very sexily anywhere in the book? Did Harry dangle on that flying car when they stole it to fly to Hogwarts? Was there an explosion of candy in the original Chocolate Factory?
Sometimes it works. Sometimes, not so much. And sometimes they don't even notice. I'm looking at you, so-called-prequel-trilogy-of-Star-Wars-movies. See that? Red eyes, take warning!

[Atelier]

The Hobbit was way too unrealistic for me. Yeah I know "but it's a fantasy!" yet even fantasies shouldn't exceed the framework of the world it's set in. Eg everything in Lord of the Rings or GoT is believable if you accept the basic rules of the fantasy world. But I'm pretty sure the hobbit and dwarves wouldn't survive a 10 million foot drop inside the goblin kingdom, and that chase scene was way too action movie-ey, and there was a genuine WTF moment when I saw that messenger on the string that the goblin with the deformed ball sack on his head speaks to. I also hated the whole White Orc subplot, not withstanding the CGI for it just looked so out of place for some reason. And in the trailer for Desolation of Smaug I saw Thorin jump about 10 feet into the air off a cliff, that would never happen.

I was hoping to see something in the same vein as the LotR but it turned out to be a dumb children's movie (the scene where that hedgehog called Sebastian dies actually made me angry). At least PJ stayed faithful to the text as it's essentially a children's book anyway. As a massive LotR fan I still hated it though.

[TheBitPriest]

The only thought that keeps me happy is to think of these movies as Hobbit-inspired prequels to Peter Jackson's LOTR.

[Anian]

Well I was neither impressed nor disappointed by Hobbit 1, except for the fact I will have to wait 3 years to see it finished. Hobbit was one of the first "bigger" books I've read and I still remember all the magic I felt from even seeing the cover of the book...it was magical and nothing can take that memory of reading it through some summer evenings. And all the tracking of the journey on the map inside the covers...magical.
(this is the cover btw FRONT and BACK )
Hobbit is just a brilliant book to read as a kid, these movies are made for adults as well, but in that way they also lost some of the brilliance and mystery and magic)

A while after that I gobbled up first book of LOTR, second was stretched out and third I finished barely, because last 100 pages or so were such mind numbing drag. And movies reflected this, ending of the third movie being just stupidly long in such a way it ruins the whole movie and just overly sappy. Some worlds were very interesting when brought to life, some places only movies can take you, but it's all seriously dragged out.

There's no question about the relevance of Tolkien's work, they're basics, the origin of modern fantasy, but that's just it, there have people after Tolkien who made fantasy more modern and added more interesting ideas into the mix.

[Nikolas]

It really feels like "TOO BLOODY MUCH" on everything! The cliffhanger in the end actually annoyed even my kids (aged 10 and 11 right now), and in all it is highly ridiculous. Yes I've watched it and yes I've enjoyed it, but it simply is too much of everything!

Plus that love triangle between a dwarf and two elves? For fucks shake...

It builds on tolkien's world, but in general I'm not overly impressed with middle earth at all! :-/

[Baron]

I totally agree with the assessments of the action scenes being "too much".  I was particularly miffed by the number of "yeah right" moments in the first Hobbit instalment when they were fleeing the Goblins under the mountain.  For the Desolation of Smaug I had a similar feeling when it came to the barrel scene: I mean, fantasy is fantasy, but c'mon.  C'mon.  The barrel flips out of the water and runs over how many orcs, exactly?  C'mon.  The orc was propelled how high into the air to have his head cut off from a boat in water that would absorb the shock of anything falling into it?  C'mon.  C'mon! 
       
   On a positive note, however, I thought the movie did more credit to Thorin's character, actually having him

Spoiler

come down into Smaug's lair and face the dragon.  In the book the dwarves always seemed to be just a little chicken-shit for not standing with Bilbo, who had helped them out of danger two or three times by that point.  At least with the director's cut version you can say they're honourable.

[close]

    I liked the dragon, although I've annoyed my wife to no end by constantly spouting the last line "I am fire! I am death!" in a dragon-like voice, but replacing those terms with happy friendly things like "sunshine" and "music", or "salt" and "bacon", etc.  The set and life-world of Lake Town was awesome too (although the laughable administration of the town was nothing short of silly) -the elf world on the other hand seemed pretty bland.

    But the one thing that gets me is

Spoiler

Gandalf battling Sauron.  Seriously?  Seriously?  I mean, if he knew it was Sauron, why all the research into knowledge that was "lost" in the Fellowship of the Ring movie after reading the fire-runes on the ring if he knew Sauron was out and about?  Gah, I can't stand that kind of continuity error.  Not to mention the fact that the villains again suspend Gandalf over their army-building works, I guess to gloat but inevitably giving him the opportunity to escape and frustrate their plans.  WILL THEY NEVER LEARN!!!!  Just kill him!  Jeeze!  If he uses another butterfly to summon the eagles to rescue him I swear I will shit myself in the cinema next December -my fellow patrons, you are warned!

[close]

    So in conclusion, although it didn't follow the book very religiously and cut out some parts I was really looking forward to, and I didn't really like the overdone action scenes, and there were some sadly predictable clichés and continuity errors, I did like about half the movie and some of the director's decisions to take the story in a slightly different direction.  So I guess in the end I'm feeling kind of neutral on the whole experience.

[Frodo]

I was really disappointed that they rushed through Mirkwood, and the giant spiders.  It also seemed like the cut Beorn's scene a lot. 

And this was just so they could add that ridiculous over-the-top far-too-long silly action barrel sequence, that was more about special effects and stunts, rather than telling the story. 

[Snarky]

There's no question about the relevance of Tolkien's work, they're basics, the origin of modern fantasy, but that's just it, there have people after Tolkien who made fantasy more modern and added more interesting ideas into the mix.

Pshaw! While there are a few other worthy fantasy authors, I don't think anyone yet has bettered Tolkien. But then I don't agree that the end of TLOTR drags in the least (in the book; the film is a different matter).

Anyway, I care too much for The Hobbit to watch this film. The moment I heard it was going to be split in three, I knew I would never see it. Everything people say, as well as the trailers, appear to bear out that decision.

[miguel]

All you've said may be true but I don't mind having a Tolkien based movie every Xmas, and c'mon guys, the movie wasn't that bad. I too have read the Hobbit and still hold great memories of it but it doesn't kill the experience I had. In fact, watching it made me go back to book 5 of the Wheel of Time and finish it, a book that was gaining spider webs for nearly 3 years!

[TheBitPriest]

Since posting this, I've been going on a blog-bing trying to nurse my frustration.  Part of me wants to agree with miguel.  How bad is it really?  We get to go back to Middle Earth one more time.  Not a bad thing.  Then part of me doesn't understand how these two movies could be so off track.

I've been listening to the LOTR soundtrack, and I just can't reconcile how you can go from the epic feel of the haunting music and lyrics of "In Dreams" to the non-stop CGI silliness of the Hobbit films.  If you recall, "In Dreams" even pays homage to The Hobbit. "When the seas and mountains fall / And we come, to end of days / In the dark I hear a call / Calling me there, / I will go there / And back again"

Then it hit me...  The real change.  It's Nerd Jackson vs. Hipster Jackson!   Was the original trilogy fueled by Cheetos and Mountain Dew?  Was it!?!



(Okay... so I feel mean for saying it... honestly, I'm happy for his heart.  ) 

[miguel]

I understand what you're saying but is it really that bad that PJ lost weight and has a different look?
As far as I can see from the 2 movies, the message is still the same of Tolkien: friendship, honour, believing in one's capabilities and so on.
The Lord of The Rings was a global thing that moved people that didn't know Tolkien to the cinemas, I think that the people with the money were afraid that The Hobbit wouldn't do as well if it was a more conservative kind of movie so we got CGI sequences and all that. Do we Tolkien fans appreciate it? Probably not, but new generations will have to decide either to see The Hobbit or 47 Ronin...

I'd really want to see The Wheel of Time done by Jackson and his crew. That would be epic in every way, it's a massive work and Jackson proved that he can turn epics into movies.

[Snarky]

Well at least he wouldn't be ruining anything since the books are already crap.

[miguel]

Blasphemy!
I've heard negative feelings about TWOT before and then have people actually growing fond of the characters and become addicted. But of course it's all down to taste and what one expects from fantasy books.

[Andail]

I heard they're splitting the final movie into two movies. And then they'll make a third movie on the credits alone, making a trilogy within the trilogy.

One a side note:
I saw it, and it was exactly how I had expected it to be - long, full of special effects, super ninja elves and whackiness.