"The Hobbit", at last!

[wiseheart]

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.

Comments

[sammydragoncat]

I'm glad your were finally able to see it, and enjoyed watching it.

[altariel.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed it! We're almost entirely in agreement. I thought it was god fun, but could've done without 15-20 mins of the fighting.

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

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.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

Another try as lj seems to hate me today!

Yay! Glad you got to see it and liked it. It will be fun to see what happens in the later films.

[tyellas.livejournal.com]

I am with you on the elk/moose and the slight decadence of Rivendell. Do try to get to a 2D version, I found it was much easier to see all the delightful details.

[jen-rock.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you finally got to see it and I'm glad you liked it. Martin Freeman did a really great job.

[rcfinch.livejournal.com]

We´re mostly in agreement, I see, though I´m still wondering how Radagast and his Rhosgobel rabbits managed to cross the Misty Mountains with a sled. I liked Thranduil, but not his moose. But I hated the Goblin Town & Burning Tree scenes so much that they almost killed the second half for me. Fortunately there was the riddle game, which was perfect.

[artemis10002000]

I'm not going to read the spoiler cut because I haven't got to see the movie yet (and won't for another two weeks, at least, I really hope it will still be in the cinemas by then) but I'm very happy to hear that you are better and were finally able to watch it!