wiseheart: (Gildor)
wiseheart ([personal profile] wiseheart) wrote2013-02-05 05:25 pm
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"The Hobbit", at last!

Finally, after 7 weeks of anguish, Mum and I managed to go to the cinema and see "The Hobbit". In 3D and with Hungarian dubbing because that was the only time slot we could squeeze it in. Well... my thoughts are behind the tag.

I was prepared to hate it. I didn't. Actually, with all expectations of canon accuracy firmly banned from my mind, I even enjoyed it. It would have been a lovely fairy tale, if not for the gratutious battle scenes and the constant fighting.

What I liked:

1)MARTIN FREEMAN as Bilbo!!! The guy was beyond amazing. I already admired him as Dr. Watson, but I'm completely smitten with him now.

2) The melancholy singing of the Dwarves at Bilbo's (the second song, I mean, not the plate-breaking insanity, although that was fun, too).

3) Radagast. He was the character I was prepared to hate the most, but guess what? I loved him and his rabbit-sleigh, despite the horrid costume and make-up. He was absolutely loveable. Go figure.

4) Richard Armitage as Thorin. Again, despite my previous expectations. I still think he's too young for the role; they should have put more grey in his hair and given him a bigger beard. But I understand that they needed someone sexy to attract young female viewers. So be it.

5) Balin and Bofur, the only other Dwarves with an actual personality.

4) Dol Guldur. It was suitably creepy.

5) The Wargs. They actually looked like wolves this time, instead of like prehistoric hyaenas as in LOTR.

6) GOLLUM! 'Nuff said.

Things I found okay:

1) Azog. He wasn't really necessary, IMO, but I understand that non-Tolkienite viewers need a main adversary. And they did him well.

2) Elrond. He looked a lot better than in LOTR, wasn't suffering from depressions and even kicked Orc ass. That I still think he was miscast is another matter entirely.

3) Galadriel. Again, she looked better and came over as less as an idiot than in LOTR. Again, she was fairly unnecessary, but they needed at least one female character in the film. And her dresses were stunning.

Things I didn't like:

1) Thrainduil and his stupid Elk. Sorry, it just looked silly.

2) The rest of the Dwarves as poor caricatures.

3) Goblin Town. Too many hanging bridges, too big the whole thing, too long and too ridiculous fight scenes.

4) Rivendell. It's too artificial, too decadent and not really captivating. I didn't like it in LOTR, either, so it's not truly surprising.



All in all, it was an enjoyable film, save the gratutious fighting. Even Mum enjoyed it. The 3D effects didn't do much for us, aside from making us dizzy whenever something appeared to drop off the screen and right onto our heads, but it's a matter of taste, I guess.

I'll be definitely in for the next part.

[identity profile] ithilwen.livejournal.com 2013-02-05 05:41 pm (UTC)(link)
Your likes and dislikes pretty much mirror mine (although I didn't mind Thrainduil's Elk mount). Expecting PJ to tone down and shorten the battle scenes appears to be a lost cause, but the rest of the film worked surprisingly well.

[identity profile] wiseheart.livejournal.com 2013-02-05 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, PJ doesn't seem to realise that it was a children's book, originally. Written for children who didn't play World War III on their computers 24/7.

[identity profile] ithilwen.livejournal.com 2013-02-06 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
I think PJ is still a little boy at heart, fascinated by explosions and swords and epic battles. He just doesn't see that when a battle scene is too over-the-top or too long, it actually starts boring the viewer and dragging down the pacing of the film.

[identity profile] wiseheart.livejournal.com 2013-02-06 05:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Mum's reaction was to die for. She told me afterwards:

"I thought I'd be bored. I wasn't. I quite enjoyed the plot. The only things I found boring were all those fighting scenes and those ugly monsters."

She's not into fantasy, not really. But she loved Gollum in the LOTR-trilogy and was happy to see him again.

[identity profile] ithilwen.livejournal.com 2013-02-06 06:01 pm (UTC)(link)
The riddle scene alone was worth the price of the movie ticket. The Dwarves singing in Bag End was just an extra bit of goodness. Who cares about the rest? :D

[identity profile] wiseheart.livejournal.com 2013-02-06 07:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, yes, that Dwarven dirge made me shiver, and in a very good way.