Jeff wrote:I was prepared to be disappointed, but happily wasn't. In fact it didn't drag for me as much as The Fellowship did at first viewing. Though it grates that Thorin is young and hardly Dwarfish at all.
Yes, he's far too young and mannish-handsome. This installment stuck closer to the story line which I liked, but it felt like a 3 hour extension of LOTR. I wasn't expecting that, exactly. The Hobbit was written as a children's fairy tale. I was hoping it might be a little softer, less thriller-like within its violent scenes, and some of the style elements updated, for a new overall feeling. Instead I felt I was looking at yet another painting by the same landscape painter of the same vista. The orchestration, the segues, much of the camera work, utterly, annoyingly, predictable. One can create continuity in a body of work without lapsing into boring repetition. I did enjoy the interwoven songs however.
Two things I really did like, Radagast the Brown, down to his bird poop decoration, and Bilbo, his character was written and portrayed quite well.
Sometimes I didn't like the 3D effect. It was novel at first, but then it would get in the way, and made my head feel funny. I found my myself turning away from the screen occasionally to set myself right.
And what a shocking lack of guardrails! Don't these races ever fall down? Are there no building codes? Hmmmm, on second thought, if orcs trip, no one cares, and Elves, they don't trip. Doesn't explain the dwarves.
I'm still looking forward to what happens in Mirkwood.