.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

So....did you like it?

Nice one Bloodball...

[Incanus 5,716]

All I can say (again) is badass Bloodboal. Badass.

And you do indeed express many points that also frustrated and irritated me in the film as well as those things they did get right. A very uneven movie.

You could cut a decent fan film from the materials of the movie. Almost.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No analyses of the Bunnies of Doom though...

Dissapointing.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Have you now officially resigned as The Messenger?

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Faleel 5,360]

Cannot say I agree with you on all of this, but I certainly cannot argue with it.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Faleel 5,360]

Translation: I don't agree with every thing you said in your review, but I cannot argue your points.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Faleel 5,360]

Yeaaaaa-no!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Faleel 5,360]

Azog not having anything to do with the erebor plot, (Its rumored that) he is going to be in the battle of the five armies, but that hardly counts as being part of the Erebor plot (but at the same time, is more than nothing)

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Brónach 1,302]

BloodBoal I noticed what you said of the scene with the escape from Giblintown. The way it's assembled it's extremely weird. PJ shows things one after another but there isn't a narrative to the scene (from point a to point b to point c) which is what makes action scenes fun. For example when Thorin says to cut the ropes, he says it in a sudden cut and we don't know where they are exactly, so we don't think the solution with the characters, but after the fact, so it becomes less funny.

It's like they took chunks out and put it in a different order and assembled a collection of shots with random stuff.

You could cut a decent fan film from the materials of the movie. Almost.

I have it in my head down to details. I need the extended version of this, the next two films and the complete scores.

The only problem would be some moments and details that I'm not fond of but I prrobably cannot quite change because the necesary footage might not exist.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Brónach 1,302]

To know exactly what to cut I need the footage of all the films. It depends if we want to end up with one or two movies.

I would take out Frodo, shorten something at The Unexpected Party. Take out Azog from his scenes and the Azanulbizar flashback. Shorten the fight with the trolls, extend Bilbo talking them out of eating them if such footage exists. Eliminate Radagast and the warg persecution. Shorten or delete stuff in Rivendell, but putting more of Bilbo going around. I might take the white council scene out almost entirely. Delete part of the stone giant fight (I have an idea for this). Delete part of the fall to the dwarf collector. Delete a lot of the stuff from the dwarves' escape from Goblintown entirely, and the Great Goblin talking about Azog etc. Expand on Riddles. Gandal's offscreen adventures might be relevant or not, I dunno. Get rid of Thorin's fake death if possible (if not, you could make it as if he "sees" Azog and goes bollocks). You can make this sequence faster as well and it would be more intense. Delete Gandalf calling the eagles, for example. The eagles might arrive just at the necesary moment as to avoid making Bilbo kill that orc.The last scene is left out and it goes into footage from the second film. It would be nice to leave out Thorin's cliched dialogue on top of the mountain. I wonder if theres any deleted scene where Gandalf, or any character, says anything about the eagles, because it seems like the eagle thing is the most normal thing in the world.

Also many details with the score. I like Quint's suggestion of making Gandalf's theme start a bit later after he comes back. Also that Nazgul music...

You have the Warg-Scouts scene that gets in the way and makes it hard to make a satisfying edit of the journey from the Trollshaws to Rivendell.

If you keep Gandalf arguing with Thorin about Rivendell, which makes him go away, then he rescues them and talks to Thorin as well and we go directly into the narrow passage (the later part of it, and without the "this was your plan all along" and any running/action music), it can make for a nice ellipsis. Maybe you can put a landscape walking shot in between or something if it's too jarring.

The entrance and arrival there and Elrond's appearance is too long as well.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Brónach 1,302]

But you don't necesarily keep scenes as a whole. You can cut out bits and pieces. Also you can play with music and change what we hear (voices, sounds, etc.) I don't remember how that dialogue was like but you could go from Bilbo drawing his sword to a landscape shot to the secret passage.

What's your idea? I'd prefer not to keep the first warg attack because there's wargs later.

[Faleel 5,360]

You could remove the Dwarf voice by removing/replacing that bit in the surround channels.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,374]

I can't believe you guys are discussing cutting Radagast entirely out of the film. You have NO IDEA how his character will interact with the storylines in Film 2 and Film 3. You can't know if you can cut him or not until you've seen those films!

[Brónach 1,302]

(especially since most shots of the Dwarves on their journey during the first part of the film involve them riding their ponies, and they don't have them when they are in the hidden passage leading to Rivendell).

Shit.

Mmm I'll think on this.

I can't believe you guys are discussing cutting Radagast entirely out of the film. You have NO IDEA how his character will interact with the storylines in Film 2 and Film 3. You can't know if you can cut him or not until you've seen those films!

Yeah that's why we need the following films.

[Faleel 5,360]

I can't believe you guys are discussing cutting Radagast entirely out of the film. You have NO IDEA how his character will interact with the storylines in Film 2 and Film 3. You can't know if you can cut him or not until you've seen those films!

Its their edit, they can do what they want!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Faleel 5,360]

Too bad you couldnt use the scenes of the elves and attacking the wargs and stuff, as the "Something's Coming" that the dwarf is talking about.

perhaps just use the Lothlorien horns

[Jay 37,374]

Well, I'm planning on cutting entirely the White Council subplot, so it's no problem to me. Unless of course he intervenes in the main plot somehow in the next two films.

That's my point. We have no idea how Radagast and Azog will interact with the MAIN STORY in the next two films, so taking him out may be impossible. Heck, the scenes PJ is filming this summer could be scenes to ENSURE removing them is impossible

[Brónach 1,302]

Well, I'm planning on cutting entirely the White Council subplot, so it's no problem to me. Unless of course he intervenes in the main plot somehow in the next two films.

I hadn't thought on necesarily cutting that out (it's hard to tell without knowing how it follows). It's just that the way it's done in the film it's a bit overcomplicated. It could done in a more simple and elegant way. One of my problems with it is that I don't really like what they did with Radagast in the film so I'd keep his clowniness, or if that isn't possible, his presence to a minimum.

[Faleel 5,360]

Well than BB will edit a V.2 of his AUJ (and maybe DOS if nothing happens with radgy and azog)

[Brónach 1,302]

That's my point. We have no idea how Radagast and Azog will interact with the MAIN STORY in the next two films, so taking him out may be impossible. Heck, the scenes PJ is filming this summer could be scenes to ENSURE removing them is impossible

The asshole!

Although editing with a good deal of imagination can solve many problems. I once saw a guy had managed to create a fight between Terminator and Robocop.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Faleel 5,360]

My edit is going to remove shore's score, with music from various Zimmer scores.

naw

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Faleel 5,360]

Yep I could see it now:

Thorin sees Azog, and instead of ringwraith music, "He's a pirate" plays.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Faleel 5,360]

And in the end credits, neil finn's "song" plays for a minute, then we hear one of the dwarves saying "enough!" and we hear a scuffle, a cry out, and then the song stops abruptly, as we hear fighting SFX, then the dwarves sing.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Faleel 5,360]

Or I would hire that guy, the composer for wrath of the titans, and have him add tons of loops overtop of Shore's bare-bones score (because it has no loops!)

And at the end Incanus will say "Thats All Folks!"

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Quintus 5,399]

I like Radagast and so do the people I saw it with. Wouldn't want him cutting out, thanks. Just bin the shite giants and we would have a somewhat tighter movie.

Couldn't give a fuck about the book.

[Faleel 5,360]

I like Radagast and so do the people I saw it with. Wouldn't want him cutting out, thanks. Just bin the shite giants and we would have a somewhat tighter movie.

Make your own edit then.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Brónach 1,302]

Maintain, in any appropiate order:

-The company in the middle of the storm, someone says they need to find shelter.

- Flying stone and Bilbo's reaction.

-The giants fighting (there's at least two or three jawdropping shots in there that can be used)

-Bilbo hanging and Thorin picking him up and then saying something.

Done. We don't really need the collapsing stairs bit. Even if I do find it creative that they are on top of the giants.

And you can use the parts of the musical cue that are convenient. Some of the simple, rising brass figures in there can be appropiate. (I like this part of the score)

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Brónach 1,302]

I'm explaining it simple, the execution would be trickier. I'd have to rewatch the scene for details.

The solution for weird cuts is cutting whatever it's making it weird too xD

[gkgyver 1,645]

Following this was Shore's cue for Bilbo's departure, which took me by surprise, because it sounds like nothing he composed for LOTR

Are you familiar with this, from 0:15 on?

[Faleel 5,360]

I don't hear any hillbilly backbeats

[KK 3,307]

My dear JWFANers... You asked me once if I had told you everything I thought about The Hobbit. While I can honestly say I have told you the truth (than I didn't know how I felt about it back then), I may not have told you all of it...

As Incanus said, what you’ve told us here is badass. Badass indeed!

Prologue: One Dragon To Rule Them All

Right from the start, when I heard the first notes of Shore's score, I was immediately brought back to Middle-Earth. That little overture was the best opening I could dream of. Then, The Hobbit title card appeared on screen, the Shire's theme started playing, and it felt good. But the moment that really did it for me was that little scene with Bilbo in Bag-End, lit by the candlelight. Combined with the music composed by Shore (I'll say it again: that bit is one of the highlights of the score), that scene really moved me. Yes, you heard me: it moved me! And when Bilbo is looking at his portrait, somehow, it almost made me cry. And I'm not the kind of guy who cries easily! I'm a tough guy! But that little moment did something to me, and I'm thankful to PJ for that. That little sequence was just perfect, and better than anything I could have imagined as an opening for that trilogy. But after that, there was a shift in both the story and style, and that's where things got a little more complicated...

That is the moment where we get to the story of Erebor, and this is the moment where I felt this movie would be very different from LOTR in visual terms... We get to see Dale and its inhabitants, and I instantly felt like something was off. I can't really tell what it was (the design of it, the way it was shot...), but it didn't do it for me. Then we get to the Dwarves' kingdom. I found the overall design of it a little dull, to be honest (and in particular the one for the Arkenstone, which looks bland). Nothing coming close to the wonders described in the book. I did like the look of Thrain and Thror, though (especially the later), and also Thranduil's entrance (with that little choral material by Shore). And then came Smaug's attack...

While I liked the idea of the dragon kite, did it really have to be CGI? That's one of the many things that ended up being CG when there was really no need for that, and that really make the movie looks cheap. Shame. Anyway, back to Smaug's attack. There was little about that sequence I liked. As I've said in my review for the score, the music there feels like some composer trying to mimic Shore's choral music from LOTR (even though that's Shore composing the music here. How ironic!). Not only that, but the whole scene felt rather cheap. There was no real build-up to the attack, just wind, and then Thorin going like: "Prepare the men!", and Balin asking: "What is it?" and Thorin answering: "A dragon". The way that line is delivered quite ruined the scene for me. Thorin is saying like it's no real big deal. It's just "a dragon", not something that could kill every Dwarf living in Erebor. The only bit I did find good was when Smaug was at the door, and the Dwarves were waiting for him behind it. That bit was really good, up until they all escape from the mountain. After that, you have Thranduil showing up, and if you look closely behind him, you can see that his men are all CG. Why? That's another question I'm afraid we'll never have an answer to. About the elk (or whatever that animal is), while I liked the idea, the CGI could have been done better (and I'm OK with it being CGI ). As for the rest of the prologue, it was decent.

Overall, it gave me a mixed feeling. The look of it felt rather cheap at times, but there were some nice bits here and there. It could have been far worse, though, and it's clearly not a bad part of the film. As I said, the bit with Ian Holm at the beginning really helped make it all better.

It's interesting to note that this prologue is longer than the one in FOTR (about 9 minutes long), even though it delivers far less information.

I’ve noticed that many people here were impressed with how the Erebor prologue invited them back to Middle-Earth. It had the complete opposite effect on me. I felt very alienated. The video-game-ish environment of it all made it seem like some cheap LOTR knock-off, as if Jackson was filming another fantasy story, albeit a more generic one. It all felt cheap and was hard to take seriously to be honest.

And there were many little things I hated, like the kite. Or the shot of the crying little girl and her doll. I get it, you’re trying to make us sympathize with these people, but it just doesn’t work here. Jackson did it to great effect in The Two Towers, in the sequence where the village was being pillaged and the children were sent off. I connected with that scene. This one just felt wrong.

My Dear Fan Service.

And we're back to Bag-End. While I'd be lying if I said Frodo's entrance didn't do anything for me, his scene felt pretty useless. After the Dwarf prologue, all you want is for the story to finally start, but no. You have to have that scene for nostalgia's sake. But the thing is, it doesn't achieve anything apart from nostalgia: it drags the movie (not a lot, I give you that, but still!) unnecessarily and brings nothing at all to the plot. It is one of those (many) callbacks to LOTR that prevent the film from standing on its own and I could have easily done without it. Take it out, and you already won 3 minutes to put more stuff from the book. It would have been great going from the Dwarf prologue directly to Bilbo's story. Can't say I liked this scene.

On a side-note: I was surprised by how obvious it was that it's not Ian Holm as Bilbo when they're going out of Bag-End. It was so painfully obvious, I'm sure even the least attentive average moviegoer could notice that. It took me out of the film for a few seconds. They CGIed so much things in this film, it's a wonder they didn't try to put Ian Holm's face on whoever that guy was (didn't look like Martin Freeman to me, although it was clearly him in that shot in the trailer).

I actually had no problem with Frodo’s little cameo. Sure, it was useless, but I enjoyed it. I’d rather have taken 3 minutes out of the over-stuffed Erebor prologue.

An Unexpected Party.

Gandalf calming the Dwarves the same way he calms Bilbo in FOTR with Bag-End turning all dark (that was another one of those callbacks to LOTR that feel to much like PJ giving a wink, and being all like: "Remember, remember? It's the same as in LOTR. These were fun times, weren't they??". I don't need that. If I want moments that I can see in LOTR, I'll watch LOTR, thank you very much!), and that's about it.

This really pissed me off. This constant, overbearing LotR referencing! The film’s overwhelming reliance on LotR nostalgia! It just can’t stand on its own legs. Some of them were fun mind you, like the scene with Frodo putting up the sign. But Gandalf getting angry with the darkening shadow as he did in FotR was just FAR too much. And there were tons of moments like that in the film unfortunately. The film was basically a parody. And it doesn’t help that Jackson is trying to make the Hobbit feel as epic as LotR as well…I mean how did he expect to take all these references seriously? I felt like shouting “GIVE IT A REST PJ!!!!”.

I think its one of this film’s most frustrating flaws. I should come up with a list of all the incredibly stupid references this film has sometime.

The Exposition Is Ahead.

And it's finally time for Bilbo to join the Company of Dwarves and for the adventure to finally begin! Or is it? That's where things started to go wrong for me. You see, so far, the film was pretty faithful to the book, and that was for its own good. From that moment onwards, it started being less about the book and more about PJ's fan-fiction extravaganza. The thing is, up to that point, the story was pretty simple: we were introduced to our heroes (Bilbo and the Dwarves), their main goal (reconquering Erebor), and the main villain (Smaug). All pretty much streamlined. This would have been the perfect moment for our heroes to encounter the first obstacle of their journey: the Trolls. But PJ decided it would be more interesting to have more exposition (as if there wasn't enough since the beginning of the film)...

We are told the story of The Battle Of Azanulbizar. What does it have to do with the main plot and Smaug? Nothing. This is when we are introduced to Azog, which will be our second villain of the story. Why? Because, apparently (and some people say it makes sense), to have someone pursue the Dwarves gives the journey a sense of urgency and that also gives an enemy for them to confront during the final showdown of the film (since we won't see Smaug until they'll reach the mountain). To me, it just complicates the story unnecessarily, not only because it takes the spot away from Smaug from the entire first film, but also because it has no relevance to the main plot whatsoever. What does Azog has to do with the quest for Erebor? Absolutely nothing (I may be proven wrong with the next two films, but for the moment my point stands). While Jackson could have used the opportunity given by the fact that Smaug doesn't appear in the first film to build up the terror this creature inspires, and really make the audience wants to see the dragon, he preferred to create another villain that makes the audience forgot about the dragon for the whole film, and insert a little scene at the end as a reminder: "Oh, don't forget, there's a dragon coming next year!".

Not only that, but also adding that Azog subplot takes away screen time that could have been used to move the plot forward and allow the first film to cover more ground (up until at least Mirkwood and the spiders, which could have been a great showdown). So, as you may have guessed, I didn't like Azog subplot at all, and I fear what they might do with it in the next two films.

To go back to that Azanulbizar flashback, I didn't really like it. It felt like another attempt by PJ (and Shore) to go back to the grandeur of LOTR, but it failed miserably. Firstly, having the whole battle being slow-mo was annoying as hell. Secondly, the colour grading there felt too much like 300. Thirdly, Azog's scream when he got his hand cut off was freaking hilarious, and completely ruined the scene for me. It felt like Azog was about to say: "Woaw! Seriously, man? UNCOOL, BRO!"

Another thing that bugged me with that scene was that they didn't even bother explaining why the Dwarves didn't retake Moria, even though they won the battle. In the movie, Balin clearly says their enemy was defeated, but that's all. I mean, if I hadn't read LOTR appendices, I'd be wondering why the Dwarves didn't retake Moria at that moment. No mention of the Balrog or anything. Lame.

Oh, and Dwalin's mohawk was fucking ridiculous. Talking about Dwalin, it's interesting to note that you see him killing (or at least wounding) Bolg in that scene. Weird. I have a feeling the first cut of that scene was quite different before their decision to make a trilogy and them changing the entire Azog subplot.

The way the Azog subplot was stitched in to the film just felt awkward. It was as if Jackson was shouting “ALRIGHT FOLKS, Tolkien Trivia time (and inaccurate at that)!”. And like you said, the slow mo and weird colour grading bothered me. I felt nothing watching it. No sense of awe, no thrills…in fact, I was bored to the point of ridicule. Why did it ALL have to be slow mo?

I don’t even care for the irritating fan-fiction…but the way the whole scene was conceived was just incredibly poor. Cut it out please!

Radagast The Clown.

And my problems with the film didn't end here. Because right after that, we're introduced to Radagast and the Necromancer subplot, and PJ complicates the whole story even more! I won't even bother talking about Radagast, because the character doesn't even deserve it. Useless as shit. His role in the story could have easily been filled by Gandalf in order to simplify things. What does Radgy do in the film? He goes to Dol Guldûr and finds out there is the Necromancer there. Nothing Gandalf couldn't do. Just use the flashback when he got the key and map from Thrain, and make him find out about the Necromancer at that moment. Reason enough for him to call the White Council to meet when he'll be in Rivendell with the Dwarves. As simple as that.

To continue on Radgy's story (without talking about the character), everything about it felt wrong. The exorcism of the hedgehog (Seriously, PJ?!), the spiders being shown (which will most likely ruin their entrance in film 2. There won't be any suspense when the Dwarves meet them. People won't be wondering what are the things that are about to attack the Dwarves. They'll just be like: "Oh, it's the spiders Radgy saw."), and the whole Dol Guldûr scene. Seriously, a wraith being beaten so easily?? And, then, a dark vagina appears in the air, and that's it? Wow. That was pretty awful.

And that's where another big problem appears: as I've said before, until the Dwarves left Bag-End, everything was pretty simple: one storyline, one villain, one goal. Then, you've got the Azog subplot coming into the way, with no link to the primary quest. Two storylines, two villains, two goals. And here comes the Necromancer subplot, with again no link to the primary quest or Azog's storyline (well, even of the Necromancer resurrected Azog, I don't think he did that only so that Azog could accomplish his vengeance). So, now, you end up with three villains that are not related in any way, that all have different goals, and that concerns only certain characters in the story.

That's the main problem with that movie. Let's look at LOTR for example. All the villains are on the same side, and only have one goal: to get the One Ring. You have Sauron and Saruman, working together in order to achieve that goal. All good guys are fighting the bad guys. It's all pretty clear: two sides, well delimited.

With AUJ, you've got three bad guys, each on their own side, all with different goals: Azog wants to kill Thorin, the Necromancer wants to take over Middle-Earth, and Smaug wants to... sleep on his gold. Thorin is the only one fighting Azog, Gandalf and the White Council are the only ones concerned by the Necromancer, and the Company only deals with Smaug. You've got something like four sides, and the lines between these are pretty blurry.

I'm sure some will say: "Why don't you wait to see how the writers connect all storylines?". That's simple: we all pretty much know how this is going to work out: the Necromancer wants Smaug and Azog works for the Necromancer. Now, you have two possibilities for the Necromancer and Smaug's link: either he never appears in the Smaug storyline (we only learn in film 2 or 3 that he wants to use the dragon), in which case both storylines will only have a very weak link, and will never "meet", or the White Council subplot merges with the Erebor one, with the Necromancer showing up at the Battle Of Five Armies (there was a rumour about that), and then it all goes into fan fiction territory (and PJ & co have shown they're not very good at that with this film). So it's all pretty gloomy-looking to me...

To end with these two added subplots (the Necromancer and Azog), as I've said, they completely kill the pace of the beginning of the Dwarves' journey. We've been treated with about 25 minutes of exposition in Bag-End, then the Dwarves are finally leaving. But no, we have more exposition with Azog being introduced (no link to the quest) and Radagast being introduced after that (again, no link to the quest). I'm talking in filmmaking terms here, because I expect some people to be like: "You're just being a Tolkien fanboy and you don't like that PJ made his own thing with the book". And that's just not it. As you'll see, some of my favourite bits of the film are stuff added by PJ... but that concern the main quest! Introducing two more storylines 45 minutes into a film is just bad filmmaking (or at the very least, it was handled poorly here).

Anyway, let's continue...

Thank you BloodBoal. I think you’re the only other one whose also expressed my same frustration with the stupid Dol Goldur scene. It was just…..no curse in Elvish, Entish or in the tongue of Men that can describe such treachery. Again, it felt cheap and forced. Like a parody…

If this is how the final Hobbit film ended being, then I wonder what the Asylum film would have looked like!

Battle Over Roast Mutton.

We finally get back to the story from the book, and it's good! I bloody love (almost) every bit from the Trolls scene. It was as if it was taken directly from the book, and I even liked most of the changes. The only bit I could have done without is Bilbo being used as a handkerchief. All the rest was fine by me. I loved that the Dwarves were given an opportunity to fight, and didn't end up directly in the bags. Oh, and Shore music for that scene was... I know you want it, so there it is: BADASS! The humour in that scene was also very well done (apart from the handkerchief bit I already mentioned).

Another change from the book that I found to be good was that it was Bilbo who kept the Trolls arguing instead of Gandalf. It's a good way to keep him active during the first part of the journey, and the dialogue was also pretty hilarious. I have only one minor complaint about that scene: it is that Gandalf shows up about two minutes before he decides to break the rock blocking the sun. Why is that? That felt a bit weird. Apart from that, that was one of the finest sequences from the film.

I loved this scene. The trolls were brilliantly portrayed. All very fun. I just we got rid of all the Azog nonsense before this!

As for Gandalf waiting, well he was waiting until the sun was up in full I suppose.

A Wizard's Friendly Advice.

There isn't much to say about the troll-hoard scene. Pretty faithful to the book. But then came the scene where Gandalf gives Bilbo his sword, and problems were back... again. Gandalf explains to Bilbo that Sting is an elvish sword, which means it glows when Orcs are near. Now, as you all know it, Glamdring and Orcrist do not glow in the film. While I don't have a problem with that, the fact that Gandalf clearly says to Thorin that these are both elvish swords, and then tells to Bilbo that elvish swords glow when Orcs are nearby... It's just poor writing. How can you let such a huge plot hole go unnoticed like that? I mean, Gandalf talking to Thorin was less than a minute before Gandalf talking to Bilbo. Lame as shit. Not only that, but just a few minutes after that dialogue, you've got the Warg scouts scene, and Sting clearly doesn't glow during that sequence. Hahaha! Way to go, PJ.

To go back to Gandalf and Bilbo's discussion, I have another big problem with this one. First, it was way too quick. It felt like:" Here, this is your sword. It glows when baddies are nearby. And remember: killing people is bad." It almost felt like a parody. I even expected a jingle to play, with a title card appearing: "It's now time for our daily A Wizard's Friendly Advice show!". Secondly, it felt like a really cheap attempt at recreating that moment from FOTR in the mines of Moria, with A Hobbit's Understanding playing in the background and Gandalf giving an advice to a short little fellow. Seriously, those callbacks to LOTR always brought the film down, because having such moments immediately makes the viewer comparing the scene with its equivalent from LOTR, and The Hobbit always ends up being pale in comparison.

But my major problem with Gandalf and Bilbo's discussion was actually the content of it. Gandalf saying that true courage doesn't reside in knowing when to take someone's life, but when to spare one, completely ruins the scene between Bilbo and Gollum later in the film. You see, in the book, there was no such discussion, so when Bilbo decides to spare Gollum's life, it's a decision he made on his own, and he made such a decision because he's a hobbit, a person with a gentle heart. In the film, it feels like Bilbo is remembering what Gandalf told him and decides to spare Gollum's life because he was said "it's not good for your health to kill people". This idea is reinforced with A Hobbit's Understanding playing in that scene as well. So, one can wonder what Bilbo would have done if Gandalf didn't give him that advice...

Some might say: "Seriously, who gives a shit?" Well, I do. In LOTR, a big deal is made of Bilbo and his decision to spare Gollum's life. Gandy keeps saying "Of Bilbo's pity will depend a lot of things", and ultimately, it's Bilbo's decision that made the destruction of the Ring possible (if you stretch the idea a bit). But in the film, with Gandalf giving that advice, it now feels like he planned it all. It's all thanks to Good Ol' Gandy. So that whole "sparing life" discussion doesn't belong in the film, in my opinion.

Good point. Again, this whole vibe of feeling “forced” returns. But I can’t say I was too bothered by this scene.

Flight To The Rock.

And that's when the film hits its lowest point... PJ, how could you do this?? While the beginning of the sequence, with the two Wargs appearing, was simply badass, with the action music being all awesome and stuff, Radgy had to be there and ruin it all.

Seriously, everything in that scene is wrong, from start to finish. First, the special effects. Radgy's sled was so poorly done, and the laws of physics apparently didn't apply to it. It felt like someone had puked all on the screen, and someone was moving that vomit over the plain in the scene. All the movements felt totally unbelievable, and at no moment did it look like Radgy's sled was there on that plain. It just felt like watching an empty plain on which someone would have drawn a sled. A poorly drawn sled.

Another problem of that scene is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. Serious? Funny? Suspenseful? Action-pumped? It seems it tried to achieve all of that, but ultimately failed on all levels. It was neither funny, nor suspenseful, nor serious, nor anything. It was just stupid. Radgy was supposed to draw the Wargs away, but just ends up going into circles and putting the Company in danger, and then mysteriously vanishes. Mmmmok...

Then came the Elves, and all came to darkness. Elves from Rivendell having a horn that sounds exactly like the one used by the Galadhrims, and with the Lothlorien theme playing in the background. WTF? With LOTR, PJ was all like: "We tried to give each faction of the Elves a distinct personality, a distinct theme, a distinct sound", and with The Hobbit, it seems he's like: "Who gives a shit?" Well, I do, PJ!

And we are given yet another fucking callback to LOTR with that scene, with Gandalf yelling "Over here, you fools!". Now, I've never been a big fan of such fan service, because it harms both the film and LOTR trilogy. "Why?" you may ask. Well, first, for people who first watch LOTR trilogy then The Hobbit trilogy, as I've previously said, it brings you back to the equivalent of such a moment in LOTR, and The Hobbit always looks pale in comparison. Not only that, but for people who will decides to watch the saga in chronological order, it ruins the moment in LOTR. To keep Gandalf's line as an example: imagine a person watching the saga for the first time. First, you have AUJ, and that moment with Gandalf saying "Over here, you fools". It's supposed to be funny, but the person doesn't get it. Then, he/she watches FOTR, and when Gandalf falls, he says: "Fly, you fools". It brings that person back to that Wargs scene, which is far less emotion-driven than Gandalf's death, and kind-of ruins the moment. Bah!

But that's not all! The Dwarves are in the fucking middle of a plain field. Then, they take a secret underground passage, and suddenly they have the sky above their heads... Mmmmok...

Pretty awful sequence, if you ask me.

Other than showing off some nice New Zealand scenery, I agree. It was just a cheap ploy to get them to Rivendell. Another scene to be cut please!

The CGI-Ridden Valley.

And that's when things get slightly better. There is one of my favourite bits of acting by Freeman when he sees Rivendell. I love the face he has when he looks at it. A great bit that conveys Bilbo's amazement perfectly. Well done, Mr. Freeman! Enter Lindir which felt like forced fan service, and Elrond's entrance. That was a big LOL moment for me. He was trying so hard to copy Lord Tywin's badass entrances. But you can't beat Lord Tywin (for the win)'s entrances! It was decent, though.

The rest of the Rivendell stuff was pretty boring. The dinner scene felt like PJ doing a parody of the Elves, with them being all jolly and prissy, even prissier than in LOTR. That whole scene felt weird in that regard. Then came the moon runes scene, which felt like it belonged in an entirely different fantasy film. Another whole scene I thought was poorly conceived. First, what's with that special "room" dedicated to read moon runes? Do Elves really use that room a lot? Are they like: "Do you have moon runes to read? Quick, to the moon runes laboratory!"?

Secondly, what's with that crystal table? That element felt really out of place in that universe. It didn't fit with any of the designs previously established in all four films. It looks like it doesn't belong there. Not only that, but why did they have to add that weird glow when the moonlight "touches" that table? Another weird moment. To end with that poorly conceived "room": why put it behind a waterfall, if that room is designed to use the moonlight to read stuff? It's freakin' stupid. Elrond should know better (but he clearly doesn't).

Then, you've got that weird dialogue between Elrond and Gandalf after Elrond said "There are some who wouldn't not deem it wise". Gandalf is like: "What the fuck are you talking about?" and Elrond answers: "You're not the only one watching over Middle-Earth.". No shit! Sounds like poor writing to me, and a horrible way to introduce the White Council.

I liked Rivendell visually. But I agree some of the lines were just plain funny. It’s strange to find so much bad writing in this film. The speeches in LotR were epic and wonderfully emotional. On the contrary, a lot of stuff here feels forced and laughable. Just poorly written…

Show Us The Hook.

(Re)Enter Azog, with is unintentionally hilarious hook. What the fuck was that? What am I watching? Looks like a Power Rangers baddie. Cut it out of the film, please! Oh, and yet a penultimate callback to LOTR, with the scene happening at Weathertop. Why? What the fuck do I know? I guess it's for LOTR fans to wank over that scene. I say no thank you. If I want to see stuff from LOTR, I'll watch LOTR. End of story.

A bloody awful scene.

Cut please!

The Blight Council.

Let the snorefest begins! Now, I won't lie: when I first heard that the White Council subplot would be integrated into the story, I was immensely excited. But the more we learned about it, the less I was convinced PJ & co would manage to do something great with it. The obvious problem is that in the LOTR appendices, there are only two lines about that subplot: the White Council gathers, Saruman convinces them not to do anything, the White Council gathers again and decides to attack Dol Guldûr, the White Council attacks Dol Guldûr. You only have that, so all the dialogue and stuff has to be fan fiction. And PJ proves here once again that he's simply not good at fan fiction. The dialogue in that scene felt like something a 10-year old could have written. The characters here feel so dumb, it's embarrassing. I had the feeling I was watching a Middle-Earth version of Married With Children.

You have Saruman (which obviously needs to belittle Radagast), says: "He's eaten to many mushrooms! It turned his teeth yellow" [insert audience laughs]. Then you have Gandy and Galadriel having that telepathic discussion, with Saruman continuing to talk and not even noticing Gandalf is not looking at him, which makes him look like a buffoon [insert audience laughs]. Then probably the film's most god-awful line, when Saruman says: "Let's look at what we have. A Morgûl Blade reappeared (something that we've never seen in years and years, and that only Ringwraiths have), and a person calling himself the Necromancer is doing some black magic. Nothing to get worried about" [insert audience laughs] And the others don't react at all? Seriously, I thought that line was a joke, at first. You have Saruman saying all sorts of bad news, then saying it's nothing important, and the others not reacting at all. WTF? Black magic? A Morgûl blade? Nothing to worry about? These guys are doing one hell of job at "watching over Middle-Earth"... I guess the point of that scene was to show that they're not so different from our politicians...

Another point that bugged me is that Gandalf looks annoyed by Saruman in that whole scene (especially during his entrance, where he seems: "Fuck, he's here too?"), while in FOTR he clearly shows him respect, and even seems to admire him. It ruins the whole dynamic established in FOTR, and the scene would have worked better if Gandalf had accepted not to care about the Morgûl blade, because he respects Saruman and decided to trust his decision.

Now, I don't know how this whole White Council thing is gonna end. I'm confident the big showdown in Dol Guldûr will be pretty good, but all the stuff leading up to it? Pretty awful, if the first film is a good indication of what is to come in the second film. With what we've seen so far, I'd be in favour of cutting that whole subplot from the film in my fan edit. We'll see how this turn out in less than a year...

I actually liked some of the scene. Even though it seemed like really unnecessary bloat. It was just nice to see them together I guess.

And Saruman making fun of Radagast came out of NOWHERE! Here’s all this gloomy, oppressive “LotR” tone in the scene, and yet PJ’s knack for inconsistency strikes again! It was clearly another LotR reference, particularly to the scene where Saruman insults Gandalf for being a crack head when he comes to visit him. But why make such a reference? What’s the point? It’s not funny! Stop sacrificing the integrity of the scene just to make a pathetic attempt at riling up nostalgia!

The Company Goes South.

The Company then decides to leave Rivendell (because Elves are not nice people to stay with). And Freeman gives us yet another nice bit of acting when looking at Rivendell one last time, showing that he'll miss this place. The problem is that with the White Council taking all the screen time during the Rivendell part, you don't get to see Bilbo being really amazed by the place (apart from when they arrive), and so you don't really understand his reasons for wanting to stay. People would think: "Oh, he just wants to stay because the place is pretty". But it's more than that. I mean, it's a place he goes back to to spend the rest of his days, so something must have clicked with him, and we needed to be shown that! But no, PJ thought it was more interesting to give screen time to his fan fiction council. Shame on him! All the more since we know he shot scenes with Bilbo wandering in Rivendell. Shame, shame, shame!

Of course, his fan fiction stuff didn't end there. There was this discussion between Gandalf and Galadriel, which was supposed to be emotionally heavy, but ended up being flat. Galadriel's line: "The mystery of the Morgûl blade must be resolved" was so lame: it felt like it was a mission statement from a videogame. "The objective is to get the plans of Dol Guldûr, and escape from that place undetected. Good luck!" Gandalf talking about Bilbo was also pretty cheap: "Saruman thinks only big persons can achieve great things. I don't believe that. I think it is the small things that keep the darkness at bay". The idea behind that sentence is nice, but expressed clumsily. Oh, and I hated the way Gandalf reacts when he realizes Galadriel is gone. He's like: "Oh, she left. Well, bummer". Seriously, pay attention to that bit when you see the film again: it's really weird.

About the last part of that sequence, with the Company's journey montage: it felt like The Ring Goes South - Light Version. The music build-up felt a bit unnatural, compared to its equivalent in FOTR. In The Ring Goes South, the build-up flowed naturally into the Fellowship theme statement. Here, it's a bit more abrupt. The build-up and the actual theme statement don't mesh well together, in my opinion. The music itself is really good, though.

Down To Goblintown

The fall down to Goblintown bugs me a lot, because it ruins the great suspenseful build-up from the previous scene by being too long and too cartoony. I wished the Dwarves directly fell down into the "pit" and were attacked by the Goblins immediately. But apart from that fall, I loved that scene. The Goblins rushing towards the Dwarves, the ensuing chaos... I have to say, Weta totally convinced me with the CG Goblins. I'll admit it: I was one of those saying the Goblins should have been guys in costumes and not CG (and I know some of them are actually guys in costumes) before the film was released, but here, I couldn't tell which ones were real people and which ones were CG. They were really beautifully done (well, as beautiful as Goblins can be). Well done, Weta!

About Bilbo being separated from the Dwarves differently than in the book: it didn't bother THAT much. It shows that Bilbo can be stealthy at times (which will be important later in the story), even though it is done in a weird way. What bothered me more was the appearance of the Goblin after that, and the little fight between the two. What was it doing here? Also, the goblin was not very convincing CGI. And it is a bit weird they used CGI for that goblin, since in the next scene, he's clearly a guy in a costume. But these are minor complaints. Overall, the change from the book was fine by me.

Then the Dwarves are brought to the Goblin King, and Shore decides to kick ass. As I've said in my review of the score, the music for the Goblins is one of my favourite new thematic material from the score. And the overall design of the town is also awesome. There are two bits I adore in that scene: the first one is the look on Bifur's face when they're brought in front of the Goblin King. He's like: "Wow. What's with the face?". The other bit is when the Goblin King asks them who they are, all the Dwarves are silent, and Bofur gives a look that says: "Fuck you". Freaking hilarious. Also worth mentioning is the Goblin King's scribe. What a great character! I hope we see him in the sequels. Great acting by Kiran Shah!

The messenger kind of freaked me out, but that doesn’t matter.

And I actually agree about the company montage. Strange to see how the music and the visuals didn’t actually clash very well. I think it’s another one of those instances where all the last minute editing just had PJ rush up the sync points of the scene to the trailer music.

Riddles In The Light

And we have another winner! When I heard that the escape from Goblintown and the riddles in the dark would happen at the same time in the film, I was disappointed, since I wanted the riddles part not to be interrupted by anything. So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the film and realized it all played from start to finish without going back to the Dwarves.

I absolutely adore that whole sequence. Gollum's first appearance and him beating the goblin to death was delightfully creepy. I was not a fan of the emphasis on the Ring, though. Yes, I know it was bound to be played differently than in the book, and I was OK with some emphasis being put on it, but there it was way too much. The tracked History Of The Ring statement, the slow-mo when the Ring fell... Give me a break! It's spoon feeding the audience, and I don't like that. And, obviously, it's another thing that prevents from having a satisfying chronological viewing of all six films.

Apart from that, and the short "Shut up" line by Gollum, all the rest was top notch. I particularly loved the bit with Sting stopping glowing (although I would have liked if the glow slowly faded away, and not flickered like it was some dysfunctional flashlight) and Gollum slowly approaching Bilbo with his boat. Awesome. It was also great to have most of the riddles being included. The acting from both actors was excellent. I was a bit dubious when I learned that it was the first scene they filmed, because I thought Freeman wouldn't have enough time to define his character, and it's such an essential scene, but I think it actually worked for the best. Bilbo is supposed to be lost and afraid in that scene, so the fact that Freeman hadn't shot any scene prior to that one certainly put it in the right mood for that sequence. He was probably a bit unsure about how to play the character, and that served him well.

I have two other minor complaints about that scene: first, the lighting of the scene. I mean, the chapter's title is Riddles In The Dark, yet the scene was everything but dark. I'm not saying they should have gone with a completely pitch black picture, but at least a darker lighting. My other complaint is the end of that sequence. When Gollum realizes Bilbo has the Ring, and he slowly turns the head towards the camera, you've got that great musical build-up, but then it just stops, and the tension kind of falls down when Gollum goes crazy and starts throwing things at Bilbo. Also, the cut when Bilbo started running felt quite abrupt. The most annoying from the entire film, I'd say.

Easily best scene in the film. Loved every minute of it, except for all the tracked LotR music. That was just plain annoying.

Escape From The Misty Mountains.

There's only one word to describe (most of) the escape scene: badass! While I love most of it, I have one big problem with it: the editing. There are lots of moments when PJ just gives us quick shots of the Dwarves slicing up Goblins, with no intent at creating a good pace or emotion. The "big" moments of that sequence are great (when they cut the structure and the ropes winding up around it, Gandalf making the rock falling and roll on the Goblins, Oin kicking major asses with his staff, the Dwarves using the ladder...), but then you've got those annoying close-ups such as Thorin slashing three Goblins in a row (but with three cuts for each of the blows he gives). The most annoying thing is that these shots are put randomly, with complete disregard for continuity: when Gandalf breaks the rock and tells the Dwarves to push it towards the Goblins, all the Dwarves go in front of him, then on the next shot, Gandalf is leading the Company. WTF? And you've got this kind of things during the whole sequence! Fili being in front of Dwalin, then in the next shot, Dwalin being in front of Fili, etc. Come on! But overall, it is good scene.

On Bilbo's side, there's some good material as well. A great moment is when he's blocked into the crack, because of his brass buttons, and you see Gollum running past him then "back-pedalling", with Shore's awesome statement of the Menace Of Gollum playing in the background: great stuff! I wasn't a fan of Bilbo putting the Ring the same way Frodo does in FOTR, but he didn't annoy me that much. The best part of that scene though, and probably my second favourite moment of the entire film, was the "pity of Bilbo" part. It's such an important moment for the entire saga, and almost all of LOTR depends on that little moment, and PJ nailed it perfectly. Freeman's face during that moment combined with A Hobbit's Understanding: with the scene I mentioned at the beginning, it's the only other moment where I almost cried. It was pitch perfect. It was top notch. It was pure emotional bliss! Thank you, PJ! Thank you, Martin! Thank you!

The only way this scene could have been better would have been if there wasn't the scene with Gandalf at the Trollshaws at the beginning of the film. If this "pity of Bilbo" scene would have been the first time A Hobbit's Understanding appeared in the entire saga, that would have been awesome! And I wonder why Shore decided not to use it here (it doesn't appear on the OST. Could have been edited out, but I doubt it), since that moment is linked to the discussion between Gandalf and Frodo in Moria, during which that theme is playing. That's one of the rare moments when I'll have to agree with PJ regarding a music edit.

Some of it was kind of messy editing and ridiculously far-fetched. But it was fun to watch.

Out Of The Frying-Pan Into The Omen.

Following this was Bilbo's speech with the Dwarves, which was another sweet moment (if a bit short). But Azog had to ruin it all, obviously. God, I had almost forgotten about him. This sequence was a mixed bag for me. Good stuff and bad stuff keep alternating at a brisk pace, which kept me wondering if it was great or lame. To begin with the bad stuff: the fact that Gandalf "summons" the Eagles pretty much the same way he does in LOTR. Seriously, PJ? A wiser man would have known that this scene already feels too much repetitive for the average moviegoer, so the best way to do it is to try something new (especially since we're gonna have a similar moment during the Battle of Five Armies, in which I hope the butterfly won't show up!). But PJ is no wise man. He's a bulldozer kind-of guy. Subtlety is not his forte. So, what he does he do? He makes Gandalf use a little butterfly to contact the Eagles. Why, PJ, why?

Apart from that, the following stuff was good, up until Gandalf using the burning pinecones to make the Wargs flee, which achieves nothing but burn the grass around the tree. Great... Then the scene lasted forever, with the tree slowly falling, then Dori hanging onto Gandalf's staff... God, that was boring! Then came Thorin's berserk moment. I guess it was supposed to be an intense, gripping scene, but it ended up being unintentionally funny. The fact that it was slow-mo didn't help in the least. Then came Bilbo's hero moment, which was wrong on so many levels. Why? Firstly, because he has the Ring, yet doesn't even use it. Stupid. Secondly, the fact that he manages to kill the Orc is preposterous, particularly since the Orc is pretty big and muscled. But the biggest problem is that in the book, Bilbo doesn't kill anybody is a big part of the character. That's what make him a likable character, and reinforces the fact that he's an innocent person, which is why the Ring couldn't corrupt him. But here, he deliberately decides to kill that Orc. What a dick! Not only that, but he completely ignores Gandalf's advice from earlier in the film: "Don't kill people. It's bad for your health". What a dick! The big problem I have with that it is that, in the book, when we reach FOTR, it's heart-wrenching to see kind-hearted Bilbo slowly being corrupted by the Ring. That little fellow, who's such a nice guy, starting to be evil, it's really sad. But in the film, the guy kills a Warg and an Orc twice his size. He's badass. He gets corrupted by the Ring. So, what? Other badass characters got corrupted, like Boromir. It's no surprise. Bah!

To end with that, it should be said that Thorin's fake death was pretty lame.

But then came the Eagles, and I knew there was still some good left in this world. Thank you, Eagles! One problem, though: the use of the Reclamation of Nature theme in a very similar fashion as in For Frodo. As I've previously said, the problem is that we know the Eagles will appear once again during the BO5A. So, what? Is Shore gonna do yet another choral statement of that theme for that moment? I'm afraid that's what we're gonna get. While I would have liked that before watching AUJ, now I'm not sure. It's gonna feel too much. If the butterfly appears during the BO5A, with Gandalf looking at it, then the Eagles showing up and a choral version of the Reclamation of Nature kicking in, I think I'm gonna puke! Of course, Shore shows how smart he is, with his original music for the scene, which didn't use the Reclamation of Nature theme. Now, don't get me wrong: I love that statement, but if you ignore that fact, and just look at the bigger picture, you can see there is a problem using it here. Bah!

On the whole, a pretty uneven sequence, in which I wish Azog had died. What can be done with him? There's nothing left! Kill him already, please.

I actually really liked this chapter. PJ’s camera wizardry is just ridiculously fun to watch. But then the Nazgul theme with Thorin going at him slow mo made me go “wtf”. And I picked up on something that really bothered me about the music, but I’ll make a different post about it as soon as I can.

Queer Thorin.

Then we have an amazing, very poetic moment with the Eagles' flight to the Carrock. A great moment, and a nice closure to the first film... Or is it? Of course not, since PJ had to ruin it with a fake death! Good god. Does PJ really think this cheap trick always works? Give it a rest, man! You don't have to have a character's death to create an emotional ending for your film! And suddenly, Gandalf has healing powers! Fuck yeah! "Aya Shakrula, Bakum Yat Petrona! Matara Korah Ratmatah!" and tada! Thorin is all OK! Badassly lame.

And when you think PJ couldn't go any lower, he surprises you yet again! Thorin suddenly becomes an entirely new character after Gandalf's magic touched him (actually, I'm thinking Gandalf probably brainwashed him), which hugs hobbits and smiles all the time. Seriously, what the fuck?! What's with that sudden change? I'm OK with him finally accepting Bilbo in the Company, but it was way overplayed with the hug and him smiling, and being all cherry and jolly: "Oh, a thrush! What a lovely creature! Let's consider this a good omen! Let's rejoice! Rejoice!" I prefer the old, proud and stubborn Thorin. This one is uninteresting. And the funny thing is that we'll probably have the old Thorin back in the second film, since the Carrock scene was rewritten after the change from two to three films.

And here comes the final shot of the film. When I read Blume's comment about it having horrible CGI, I thought: "He's just being the snobbish person he's always been! He feels he knows everything there is to know about CGI! What a dick!" But when I finally saw that shot, I realized the dick was right! That shot was bloody awful! It looked like a cutscene from a 90's videogame (actually, both shots: the one with the thrush and the one with Smaug). What an anticlimactic shot! It's supposed to get you all pumped up for the next film, but it left me cold. Finn's noisefest over the end credits certainly didn't help improving my overall sentiment at the end. What an awful way to end the film. Shame, shame, shame on PJ (and Weta!)!

Thinking about it: wouldn't it have been awesome if the end credits song was the complete Misty Mountains song from the book, sung by the Dwarf cast, with music by Shore? Of course, it would have been! Shame, shame, shame on PJ!

The whole Gandalf reviving the supposedly “dead” Thorin was yet ANOTHER bloated reference to LotR (specifically Gandalf reviving the paralyzed Pippin from RotK). I mean give it a break Jackson…

The Bloat Goes Ever On...

And that's how it all ends, with a feeling of... not knowing how I feel. After my first viewing, I was completely puzzled. Did I like it? Did I hate it? Neither and both at the same time. The best way to describe this film is this: a quality rollercoaster. Quality keeps varying during the whole film. Great moments are followed by god awful moments, which are followed by badass moments, which are followed by boring moments...

Frustrating. That's the word. That's the word I used to qualify that movie after coming out of the theatre. Frustrating, because it's neither awfully bad nor awesomely great, yet it could have been the latter quite easily, with not many changes. The biggest problem the film is that it tries to be three things at the same time: an adaptation of The Hobbit, a LOTR 2.0 and a fan fiction festival. PJ really excels with the scenes that are taken directly from the book: the party in Bag-End, the Trolls scene, the riddles in the dark... But then, you have those unnecessary callbacks from LOTR that bring the movie down and kill the pace of the film... And the fan fiction stuff that completely approach the film near junk territory (and also is detrimental to the pace of the film). I think removing all the White Council and Azog subplots could really elevate the film. Unfortunately, there are a few moments that will make a fan edit difficult to make, namely the whole part from the Trollshaws to Rivendell, the Out Of The Frying-Pan sequence and the Carrock scene. Damn!

Ultimately, how did I feel about the film? I like it... when what's on screen is from the book. When added stuff starts appearing, it annoys me to no end. You could really reduce the film to 2 hours without losing anything important (thus you could make a 3 hours film with the original barrels ending). I don't know how the two next films will turn out, but for the moment, that film does not convince me that a third film was necessary. Quite the opposite, actually. I'm really planning on making (or at least trying to make) a fan edit when the film is released on Blu-Ray.

So, am I looking forward to the next two films? Well, yes, because PJ proved he's good at adapting stuff from the book, and the best part of the White Council subplot is yet to come... But... But I also know there is stuff to come that will piss me off to no end: Azog, Tauriel, Radagast... Frustrating, I tell ya!

I am incredibly saddened to find myself thinking of the Hobbit as I did with The Dark Knight Rises. The first 2 viewings I came out thinking it was flawed film, but still enjoyable at that. But the more I think about it, the more this movie pisses me off. I just can’t appreciate the merits of the film without opening my eyes to sheer stupidity of its many flaws.

Strange that where LotR had its pros far outweigh its cons and the reverse effect happens here. You’ll notice that I’ve used 3 words quite often in my response. Cheap, forced and parody. I’d like to watch it again, but thinking back to it, like TDKR, I find it too hard to appreciate the film.

And it breaks my heart! I feared disappointment, but I didn’t expect this. What happened to the great writing, awe-inducing visual effects and wonderfully portrayed characters of LotR? This is the same crew returning…but clearly somewhere along the hectic process, Jackson lost his way.

I guess I can hope that he listens to his critics and fixes up the other 2 films, but I’m not sure I can be riled up only to be disappointed again…

This isn’t the last you’ve heard of me! I have some big rants coming later (largely regarding the score’s treatment in film). But I suppose I’ll shut up for now!

Again, great review BloodBoal.

- KK

[BloodBoal 7,538]