Such a disappointment 
I'll just have to wait until December I guess...
I'll just have to wait until December I guess...
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The Hobbit
- Thread starter General Naga
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I have to admit I was almost more excited by the prospect of more music than I was about the actual films when they announced the Hobbit. I specially listened into the World Debut of the Hobbit OST which was on UK Radio (luckly!).
By the sound of this the next instalment will live up to everyone's expectations.
By the sound of this the next instalment will live up to everyone's expectations.
calgoblin
Pathfinder Games
Okay so below is a long discussion on points from the final film in The Hobbit trilogy. If you haven't seen it yet, do not read further. There are many spoilers.
Seriously, stop now.
LAST CHANCE, SPOILERS BELOW!
So the last film in The Hobbit trilogy is now out, and it is also the last film to be set in Middle Earth, hopefully for a while at least. I was a big fan of the first film, which was a wonderful piece that seemed to be setting the trilogy onto a good run. The second one had questionable parts, but with fantastic pay off at the end it was difficult not to like it in it as a direct sequel. However upon seeing the new one, I kind of wish it had ended there. Here's some of the problems I have with the final film.
- The Battle of the 5 Armies?
First off I haven't read the book, so I don't know how closely the film sticks to it. Personally, I see the armies as the elves, humans, dwarfs, orcs and the eagles, but I'm not sure if that is correct. The previous two films had done a good job at allowing non-book readers access to the story, but this one left a lot of things unexplained. I realise there were 2 orc armies at the end, but the second one did absolutely nothing apart from being eagle dinner, and the eagles were there in such a minor role it made both armies somewhat meaningless. And the humans were on the side of the elves anyway, so really there were 3 armies, at best. I thought Smaug would be classed as one of the armies, but...
- Smaug
Again, haven't read the book, but in terms of the scariest, most creepy and fantastically designed, animated and voiced character in the whole trilogy, didn't last the first 10 minutes. What the hell! There was a build up for the first two films of how evil and feared he was, but the main group of characters never have a proper fight with him. Instead he is killed by a bowman without a bow, who uses his son as an aiming device. Totally demeaned his evil and rather fantastic ending of Hobbit 2.
- Too Much Bad CGI
Smaug was visually fantastic. The rest of the CGI in this film came no where near to that level; it stood out and was noticeably bad, something all the previous films have managed to avoid. And Billy Conolly as a CGI dwarf? Really? Why cast such a recognisable voice whom you can't even show because the CGI on his character is laughable? To top that off the battle wasn't all that big, or even interesting, and certainly not capable of carrying the whole film, let alone capping off 6 films of anticipation.
- Cut in Half
Originally the Hobbit was going to be 2-parts and was changed to a trilogy part way through production. This really shows in this last film. Hobbit 2 ended in a terrible place now we now where it was going. The dragon attack scene was so not worth the year wait for, and after that nothing could live up to it.
- Orlando Bloom
All the Legolas stunt scenes were a joke right? I mean, flying a bat, remote controlling a troll with a brain sword, stabbing an orc with his sword from a throwing it, and that utterly ridiculous bunny-hopping bridge collapse... Surely his character was a spoof of his own character?
- It's Not Called The Dwarf...
Clearly all the character development of that main character was designed to only happen in the first film. Hobbit 2 was guilty of this too, but in Five Armies Bilbo is relegated to meaningless side character who doesn't really do anything. It seemed to have a case of 'too many characters' syndrome, where the main characters ended up being the dwarfs. But they weren't good enough main characters, they didn't even get a funeral or any sort of recognition after the battle.
- The Battle Ended?
I don't know, did it? Once the dwarfs died it just sort of stopped. What happened after the battle? Did elfman get his bling back? Who owned the city afterwards? Why did the Eagles come back? WHY?!
Battle of the Five Armies should have been the last great swan song to Middle Earth films. But instead it felt rushed, poorly planned and badly executed. It would have been better to keep it as a two-parter. I can't forgive Peter Jackson for that dreadful river sequence in Hobbit 2, but at least that film worked in the whole cinematic Middle Earth universe. It was a disappointing, erroneous film, that at best felt like a mediocre, average fantasy action piece. But it shouldn't feel like that, because it's Middle Earth​! Overall it was a bad end to a great series. But still, I guess 5 out of 6 isn't bad.
An Unexpected Journey: 9/10
Desolation of Smaug: 7/10
Battle of the Five Armies: 2/10
Seriously, stop now.
LAST CHANCE, SPOILERS BELOW!
So the last film in The Hobbit trilogy is now out, and it is also the last film to be set in Middle Earth, hopefully for a while at least. I was a big fan of the first film, which was a wonderful piece that seemed to be setting the trilogy onto a good run. The second one had questionable parts, but with fantastic pay off at the end it was difficult not to like it in it as a direct sequel. However upon seeing the new one, I kind of wish it had ended there. Here's some of the problems I have with the final film.
- The Battle of the 5 Armies?
First off I haven't read the book, so I don't know how closely the film sticks to it. Personally, I see the armies as the elves, humans, dwarfs, orcs and the eagles, but I'm not sure if that is correct. The previous two films had done a good job at allowing non-book readers access to the story, but this one left a lot of things unexplained. I realise there were 2 orc armies at the end, but the second one did absolutely nothing apart from being eagle dinner, and the eagles were there in such a minor role it made both armies somewhat meaningless. And the humans were on the side of the elves anyway, so really there were 3 armies, at best. I thought Smaug would be classed as one of the armies, but...
- Smaug
Again, haven't read the book, but in terms of the scariest, most creepy and fantastically designed, animated and voiced character in the whole trilogy, didn't last the first 10 minutes. What the hell! There was a build up for the first two films of how evil and feared he was, but the main group of characters never have a proper fight with him. Instead he is killed by a bowman without a bow, who uses his son as an aiming device. Totally demeaned his evil and rather fantastic ending of Hobbit 2.
- Too Much Bad CGI
Smaug was visually fantastic. The rest of the CGI in this film came no where near to that level; it stood out and was noticeably bad, something all the previous films have managed to avoid. And Billy Conolly as a CGI dwarf? Really? Why cast such a recognisable voice whom you can't even show because the CGI on his character is laughable? To top that off the battle wasn't all that big, or even interesting, and certainly not capable of carrying the whole film, let alone capping off 6 films of anticipation.
- Cut in Half
Originally the Hobbit was going to be 2-parts and was changed to a trilogy part way through production. This really shows in this last film. Hobbit 2 ended in a terrible place now we now where it was going. The dragon attack scene was so not worth the year wait for, and after that nothing could live up to it.
- Orlando Bloom
All the Legolas stunt scenes were a joke right? I mean, flying a bat, remote controlling a troll with a brain sword, stabbing an orc with his sword from a throwing it, and that utterly ridiculous bunny-hopping bridge collapse... Surely his character was a spoof of his own character?
- It's Not Called The Dwarf...
Clearly all the character development of that main character was designed to only happen in the first film. Hobbit 2 was guilty of this too, but in Five Armies Bilbo is relegated to meaningless side character who doesn't really do anything. It seemed to have a case of 'too many characters' syndrome, where the main characters ended up being the dwarfs. But they weren't good enough main characters, they didn't even get a funeral or any sort of recognition after the battle.
- The Battle Ended?
I don't know, did it? Once the dwarfs died it just sort of stopped. What happened after the battle? Did elfman get his bling back? Who owned the city afterwards? Why did the Eagles come back? WHY?!
Battle of the Five Armies should have been the last great swan song to Middle Earth films. But instead it felt rushed, poorly planned and badly executed. It would have been better to keep it as a two-parter. I can't forgive Peter Jackson for that dreadful river sequence in Hobbit 2, but at least that film worked in the whole cinematic Middle Earth universe. It was a disappointing, erroneous film, that at best felt like a mediocre, average fantasy action piece. But it shouldn't feel like that, because it's Middle Earth​! Overall it was a bad end to a great series. But still, I guess 5 out of 6 isn't bad.
An Unexpected Journey: 9/10
Desolation of Smaug: 7/10
Battle of the Five Armies: 2/10
I haven't read the book either but I definitely agree with a large part of the analysis here.
My personal opinion is that lots of things were left unexplained because that's exactly how Tolkien left them. He finished the main story and all the other side characters got a line in Appendices, if that.
This really should have been a two part movie. If Jackson didn't add all that Legolas stunting, CGI-orc slaying and elf-dwarf romance that, as I understand, never even appears in the book, there would be barely nothing to show for the third movie. And even if it is a good deal shorter than the first two, it still felt a bit long and "artificially stretched" with tons of fillers (for example that weasel Alfrid got a lot of screen time, and for what? Once a coward, always a coward - but I think we already got this in the first scene where the mob almost lynched him... ).
Overall, I kinda regret wasting 10 $, I went to see the cinema release, while a home-theatre DVD would be quite sufficient for the actual quality of entertainment this movie provided.
My personal opinion is that lots of things were left unexplained because that's exactly how Tolkien left them. He finished the main story and all the other side characters got a line in Appendices, if that.
This really should have been a two part movie. If Jackson didn't add all that Legolas stunting, CGI-orc slaying and elf-dwarf romance that, as I understand, never even appears in the book, there would be barely nothing to show for the third movie. And even if it is a good deal shorter than the first two, it still felt a bit long and "artificially stretched" with tons of fillers (for example that weasel Alfrid got a lot of screen time, and for what? Once a coward, always a coward - but I think we already got this in the first scene where the mob almost lynched him... ).
Overall, I kinda regret wasting 10 $, I went to see the cinema release, while a home-theatre DVD would be quite sufficient for the actual quality of entertainment this movie provided.
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