Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Tolkien's book was the seed from which Peter Jackson has grown a sprawling, vibrant, not always well-controlled vine. It began to grow with Unexpected Journey and has now budded with the Desolation of Smaug.
If you go in expecting Tolkien's The Hobbit, you will be disappointed and possibly disgusted. Jacksonis trying to throw just about every bit of Middle Earth there is into this mix, from the Prancing Pony to the Woodland Elf King's dragon-hunting days. This movie should come with Cliff Notes so the uninitiated can keep it all straight. Lacking that, however, someone who has never read the book will find themselves in the same condition as a dwarf in a barrel riding a river in full-spate. At least, they won't have Orcs shooting at them, though the groans from Tolkien fans may deafen them.
I am a Tolkien fan and The Hobbit, with its focus on the growth of Bilbo Baggins from home-body to hero, has been a comfort read for many years. I treasure scenes that Jackson has shortened, altered or left out all together. I was disappointed with his handling of the spiders in Mirkwood and with Beorn. I also wondered how Laketown could be so easily invaded by three different sets of non-humans, all without anyone paying the slightest attention to the running battle waged in the middle of the town.
Despite that, despite everything, I loved this movie. Jackson seems to have found the go-pedal on his scriptwriters because this one moved much more expeditiously than Unexpected Journey. At last his insistence on making everyone the heroes meet be reluctant to help them (which made no sense in LOTR) is paying off. Everyone wants a piece of the treasure Under The Mountain. The characters are complex, their motivations not entirely virtuous, even Bilbo's. I could wish there'd been more focus on Bilbo during much of the movie, especially when he's dodging around in Thranduil's citadel. Instead we find ourselves with a new character and the return of Legolas...looking mighty fine and busily filling in his character's backstory.
Backstory seems to be the reason that The Hobbit movies are being made. Everything we see is older and odder than in the LOTR trilogy, except for the people, which causes a disconnect between what we see and what we feel. As we watch this movie, we are considering how the information presented fits in with the world we met in LOTR. This puts some emotional distance between the viewer and the world before us. Maybe a little too much at times. In my opinion, the whole Kili/Tauriel romance isn't working. Yes, Kili (Aiden Turner) might think she's the Elvish Hotness, the way a teenage boy might drool over Evangeline Lilly...but would it be reciprocated even for a dwarf as cute as Kili? Elves hardly even date other elves.
And the Dragon. The scenes with just Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Bilbo (Martin Freeman) are brilliant and have the true feeling of Tolkien's imagination. What do you say to a sleepy dragon? Once the dwarves show up, however, it becomes Jackson juggling with his toys again. Then, with a true sadist's touch, he ends the movie. I may not agree with all his choices, but I'll be there when the third movie opens next year.
If you go in expecting Tolkien's The Hobbit, you will be disappointed and possibly disgusted. Jacksonis trying to throw just about every bit of Middle Earth there is into this mix, from the Prancing Pony to the Woodland Elf King's dragon-hunting days. This movie should come with Cliff Notes so the uninitiated can keep it all straight. Lacking that, however, someone who has never read the book will find themselves in the same condition as a dwarf in a barrel riding a river in full-spate. At least, they won't have Orcs shooting at them, though the groans from Tolkien fans may deafen them.
I am a Tolkien fan and The Hobbit, with its focus on the growth of Bilbo Baggins from home-body to hero, has been a comfort read for many years. I treasure scenes that Jackson has shortened, altered or left out all together. I was disappointed with his handling of the spiders in Mirkwood and with Beorn. I also wondered how Laketown could be so easily invaded by three different sets of non-humans, all without anyone paying the slightest attention to the running battle waged in the middle of the town.
Despite that, despite everything, I loved this movie. Jackson seems to have found the go-pedal on his scriptwriters because this one moved much more expeditiously than Unexpected Journey. At last his insistence on making everyone the heroes meet be reluctant to help them (which made no sense in LOTR) is paying off. Everyone wants a piece of the treasure Under The Mountain. The characters are complex, their motivations not entirely virtuous, even Bilbo's. I could wish there'd been more focus on Bilbo during much of the movie, especially when he's dodging around in Thranduil's citadel. Instead we find ourselves with a new character and the return of Legolas...looking mighty fine and busily filling in his character's backstory.
Backstory seems to be the reason that The Hobbit movies are being made. Everything we see is older and odder than in the LOTR trilogy, except for the people, which causes a disconnect between what we see and what we feel. As we watch this movie, we are considering how the information presented fits in with the world we met in LOTR. This puts some emotional distance between the viewer and the world before us. Maybe a little too much at times. In my opinion, the whole Kili/Tauriel romance isn't working. Yes, Kili (Aiden Turner) might think she's the Elvish Hotness, the way a teenage boy might drool over Evangeline Lilly...but would it be reciprocated even for a dwarf as cute as Kili? Elves hardly even date other elves.
And the Dragon. The scenes with just Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Bilbo (Martin Freeman) are brilliant and have the true feeling of Tolkien's imagination. What do you say to a sleepy dragon? Once the dwarves show up, however, it becomes Jackson juggling with his toys again. Then, with a true sadist's touch, he ends the movie. I may not agree with all his choices, but I'll be there when the third movie opens next year.
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