Quote:
Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube
I was a big fan when I was younger -- read the books in late elementary/early junior high and saw all the movies, went to the midnight openings and such. My enthusiasm for it faded significantly as I moved more towards science-fiction as an interest instead of fantasy. Saw the first Hobbit movie and didn't like it, didn't bother with the other two.
Really liked the Shadow of Mordor game they came out with last year though!
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Shadow of Mordor... so good. I was extremely pleased how they used some of the deeper mythology stuff and tied it into the story line. The enemy ranking system is pure genius. I got the platinum trophy in that game
The Hobbit film I think is just a travesty. I can appreciate adding in a few extra sequences and a director adding his own touch to the story, but what Jackson did was simply bad. For instance, a certain points in the book, Gandalf disappears to tend to some business, and it's not explained in the book itself since it's just a kids book. We can reasonably assume from other sources that Gandalf was consulting with the White Council and doing general badass stuff - so I have no problem with extending the movie to show this.
However, many other things were just bad.
- The 30 minute fight scene between Legolas & Bolg was literally boring and 100% CGI. It was like watching a video game.You can reasonably assume that Legolas was involved in some capacity in the story, but making him a central character was too much.
- died defending the King, but in the movie they did not. Tolkien I think specifically made them die in defense of the King to illustrate their unwavering loyalty to him. Jackson missed the mark.
- The barrel scene. Just OMG. How in the hell do the barrels stay afloat in a raging river with no lids and heavy set dwarves in them? Worst sequence in the whole film if you ask me.
- Introducing Thrain for 5 seconds and then killing him off.
- 4 Dwarves staying behind in the main mission? WTF.
- There are other transgressions, but the biggest blunder of them all, and one which is unforgivable: Tauriel and associated love triangle. I was stunned in the theater to say the least. You can reasonably assume there were female elves in the story, but to literally invent a name and make her a central character was basically insulting to Tolkien purists who can appreciate you can't always bring the writings to screen seamlessly. But fabricating something like that jeez. What's more, an elf would never love a dwarf in a million years (see OP on races) so the whole thing is just bizarre. They don't even really develop the love story whatsoever, then at the end of the movie Thraduil goes "it hurts because it was real love", like WTF?!?!
Anyhow, I'm glad to see other appreciate the mythology like I do, and disdain for the Hobbit film.