Well I’ve been out to see another film, and a rather popular
and well-received one at that. Full
spoilers as always you’ve been warned.
Now originally I was a bit hesitant to see this film, and
that I think was because of the title. I
really don’t like the title. I’m not
sure exactly why, but I think I just find it off putting that it has a
subtitle; even though it makes perfect sense to have one. It would have to have a subtitle because the
book is being split up into more than one movie, and it is an unexpected
journey for Bilbo so it’s not like the title is misleading, but I still don’t
like it, maybe it’s because it’s too on the nose.
Despite having a title I didn’t like the movie itself is
wonderful. With the opening narration
they did a great job of giving the audience a lot of backstory for anyone who
hasn’t read the book, or if it’s been a while since they have, and I love that
they tied this in with Bilbo writing the story for Frodo. Frodo of course being the hero of the last trilogy
of films and I think it’s great that such tight continuity is being kept within
the franchise I guess you would call it.
They also managed to get a lot of other exposition done without feeling
forced, like Gandalf being asked about other wizards and him talking about them
and then we get to see Radagast and Saruman, and have them do things necessary
for the plot to boot. And all the while
we’re keeping up a great pace for the film.
It certainly didn’t feel like an almost three hour film to me. In fact when the credits came up when the
group sees the lonely mountain in the distance I was ready for the next part of
the journey.
Despite only being about the first leg of the journey there
is still a lot of nice self-contained character growth here. I especially the character stuff with Bilbo
as the reluctant hero. He doesn’t want
to go initially. He isn’t suit to go in
terms of being a warrior, or an experienced traveller, or a good diplomat, or
anything like that. But we do get to see that he is smart with him
beating Gollum at riddles, and proving that he will be a good burglar when he
steals the ring from Gollum. He also
shows that he is brave when he runs out of the tree in the final battle to help
Thorin. What I liked about that too was
that he didn’t start being good at everything just because he’s developing as a
character. He gets a few lucky hits with
his sword, but he still swings it wildly and can’t get it out body of the Warg
easily. With the other characters I love
the fun humour with Gandalf when he walks off in exasperation at Thorin’s desire
not to seek help from the elves. I like
the respect Thorin gets from his men and I like that everyone is really engaged
in the journey and taking in everything they see.
Even with the danger there is still a sense of wonder about the journey,
like Bilbo’s wonder at seeing Rivendell or the group seeing the giant stone
creatures fighting in the mountains.
Love the musical theme that runs through the film and that
during the credits we got to hear the words to the theme. There was also a very nice use of special effects with
different characters, settings, and very nice lighting. Even the falling debris when the gang is
escaping the goblins and the falling gold in the lonely mountain, there for the
3D format that I didn’t see this in, was only a slight distraction. And Gollum looks as great as he did in The
Lord of the Ring films.
In light of all the good things here I do have some complaints,
besides the title. I did have a little
bit of difficultly keeping a lot of the names straight while watching this, but
that’s comes from the book where reading the names is far easier to tell apart
then hearing them for me at least so I’m willing to cut the movie some slack
for that. The only other thing I have to
complain about is the snot humour with the trolls. Seriously guys you’re adapting a literary
classic, with memorable characters, and a strong hero’s journey why did you add
that junk?
Oh well, even though I don’t like the title, or the bits of
crude humour, and that the names can a bit confusing the film was still very well
done in all the areas that count I think.
The music is fitting and evocative.
The characters are engaging and grow along the journey. The pacing is good there’s a nice balance of
action, humour, and genuine wonder. The
effects are great, and those made with 3D in mind were minimally
distracting. It’s definitely a movie worth
going to see in my opinion.
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