The Hobbit

I saw The Hobbit this morning. It was good, but not as good as I thought it would be. I liked Cloud Atlas better, which I haven't posted my thoughts on.

I noticed that in the previews there were a lot of apocalyptic movies. Tom Cruise in Oblivion, Will Smith in After Earth, and even a caveman animated film where their world comes to an end: The Croods. It's kind of like they're playing on the 2012 Mayan theme. I wonder if people have a slight clue that something is going to happen?
 
3D Student said:
I noticed that in the previews there were a lot of apocalyptic movies. Tom Cruise in Oblivion, Will Smith in After Earth, and even a caveman animated film where their world comes to an end: The Croods. It's kind of like they're playing on the 2012 Mayan theme. I wonder if people have a slight clue that something is going to happen?

I saw the Hobbit in 2D on Monday. I dozed off on it for about 15mins off and on. This was no reflection on the movie as I was just sleepy. :)I found it visually stunning like the LOTR movies but I prefer them over the Hobbit.

I noted the same thing in the previews, 3D. With the exception of a cartoon, all of the previews were apocalyptic flicks. One that stood out was a preview for Warm Bodies, a comedic movie about zombies that regain their humanity through love.
It looks fairly funny...but I wonder what message "they" are trying to send out with it?

_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07s-cNFffDM
 
I watched it yesterday in IMAX 3D. Story point of view, I felt it is OK, graphical scenes are great ( though the party at the hobbit's house is dragged too much). Length wise, it is little longer, though never felt. I felt tired at the end. I think, it is due to long IMAX 3D viewing after a work day. I never felt comfortable to the visual shapes of gaints, these devil shapes in the Hobbit or LOR.Probably I always preferred harry potter story than LOR.
 
Ok, blueberry and I saw it last weekend. It was fun, but certainly not comparable to the LoTR trilogy. A dragged out story with too much contrived humor in parts for my taste. However, that's probably also because of the book itself which the movie is based on.

The biggest issue I had was with the 3D and being shot in super HD48. It took me half of the movie to get used to it. A film geek friend of mine warned me before going to see the movie that it is shot in 48 and it will look like it's "too real" for the eye. Now I know what he meant. It really looks too "clean" and "perfect". It's like a 3hr commercial/video game. Kinda "sterile" and "lifeless", especially for a fantasy movie like this. The way it's shot, it misses the mystical aspect like the LoTR trilogy. Everything is just too sharp, like a stage play and I was too aware of the whole studio set-up. At one point, I felt like I was watching a documentary of the "making of" rather than the movie itself.

Also the orcs and other characters were much scarier and "real" in LoTR, imo. In the Hobbit, they used more CGI, animation rather than real-life make-up. The "white orc" character for example is like straight out of a video game and looks "too clean" and "perfect"...which also goes back to the whole HD48.

In the end, it is what it is and I think they were trying too hard to make it look "good", kinda like less would be more in this case, but those are just my 2 cents....
 
I saw the Hobbit in theatres last year and made sure to in 2D rather then 3D. I often find reviews of 3D movies to focus solely on the special effects rather than the actual story and movie itself so avoid it. I bought the DVD for it and watched it again recently and thoroughly enjoyed watching it this time around as I did in the theatres.

There seemed to have been a lot of people comparing it to the LOTR trilogy when watching it but I was just glad to see the Hobbit being made into a theatrical version so I saw it as a continuation even though it's a prequel. In doing so I appreciated the subtle good natured humour throughout the movie and the likeability of those small moments between characters throughout. For example the interplay between Gandalf and Bilbo at the beginning and their conversation about a good morning.

But I think along with that there are a lot of little subtle hints of depth throughout the movie like the scene with the small council and conversation between Gandalf and Galadriel.

SPOILER!!

In it we see how Saruman is already corrupted and that even though he's a man of great intelligence, it's a completely materialistic form devoid of conscience and empathy always trying to rationalize away clues and hints that Sauron has returned. And the conversation between Gandalf and Galadriel was one of the most powerful scenes. How they allude to an evil lurking in the shadows that's working it's plans because they (the elves and wizards) are not focused on it. It show's their blind spots and self-calming related to enjoying a state of perpetual peace but how they do have a sense, an impulse that something is stirring and must be done about it.

Also, there's always something inherently captivating in a story that involves a small group who have the odds stacked against them but rely on the company and courage of each other to meet their ultimate goal on a journey filled with pitfalls. :)
 
Recently I rewatched the first part of the Hobbit, and noticed something very interesting in the script. An example of how a person's greed and "sickness of the mind" can bring calamities for the entire race. Obviously, it's nothing new, and such ideas are used in many literary creations (Beside Tolkien, The Chronicles of Amber by Zhelazny comes to mind), but it was interesting non the less, especially while remembering the dragon (comet/meteorite) symbology. Here is the relevant quote from the script:

Ah, Frodo, Erebor! Built deep within the mountain itself, the beauty of this fortress city was legend. Its wealth lay in the earth, in precious gems hewn from rock and in great seams of gold running like rivers through stone. The skill of the Dwarves was unequalled, fashioning objects of great beauty out of diamond, emerald, ruby, and sapphire. Ever they delved deep, down into the dark and that is where they found it, the Heart of the Mountain! The Arkenstone. Thrór named it the King's Jewel. He took it as a sign, a sign that his right to rule was divine. All would pay homage to him, even the great Elven King Thranduil.

But the years of peace and plenty was not to last. Slowly, the days turned sour and the watchful nights closed in. Thrór's love of gold had grown too fierce and sickness had begun to grow within him. It was a sickness of the mind. And where sickness thrives, bad things will follow. The first they heard was a noise like a hurricane coming down from the North; the pines on the mountain creaked and cracked in the hot, dry wind. He was a fire-drake from the North. Smaug had come! Such wanton death was dealt that day, for this city of Men was nothing to Smaug. His eye was set on another prize. For dragons covet gold with a dark and fierce desire. Erebor was lost - for a dragon will guard his plunder as long as he lives.
 
Back
Top Bottom