The Hobbit

» Tue Dec 17, 2013 5:18 pm

Note before we begin - I'm really sorry if I'm stepping on toes by making this thread, it's just that the previous thread was locked and I wanna discuss the movie nao! Also, I don't know if the "#2" title for the thread meant the second movie or thread number two. Regardless, feel free to talk about An Unexpected Journey, as well.

Spoilers are to be expected, but please put them in the Spoiler Tab for the benifit of those who've not yet seen the movie.

So, I watched Desolation of Smaug on Saturday with a friend, and I was blown away. The first movie was okay, if a little long and unnecessary, but the sequal was picture-perfect, IMO. (It's only letdown in my eyes is the excessive CGI)

Legolas... I want his babies. So what if I am a straight man, I'll still have his babies... His character in this is SO much better than the "Let me point out that obvious thing that happened ten minutes ago now" guy from LOTR. You see him as a chaotic-good guy who just doesn't like Dwarves. It's also strange seeing him take a few blows. And by the looks of it, he thought that too. :tongue: But yeah, he's awesomesauce.

And that short, far redhead Dwarf was hilarious. xD killing all those Orcs single-handedly from inside that barrel. The entire cinema was laughing at that, and it was fairly awesome. too.

SPOILERS NOW.

Spoiler

When the pre-movie trailers were running, I was saying to my friend about the theory that the Great Eye of Sauron in LOTR is actually Sauron in his original physical form. Using a magical illusion, he creates the eye to cloak himself, and he himself is the black slit. He uses a palantir for the all-seeing gaze. Now in the first Hobbit, we are familiarised with the Necromancer. I guessed that he would be Sauron. I was correct, and with some flashy effects, it also proved that my first guess was right, too. Sauron is back in his true form, but too weak to manifest truly, so he hides within the illusion of the eye.

Oh... and Smaug... I want his babies too. He was just perfectly executed, IMO.

Dat cliffhanger, tho.

» Tue Dec 17, 2013 9:57 am

I thought the movie was pretty sweet, though they changed quite a bit (probably more so in this one then the first one), i wasnt too disappointed.

Spoiler

The elf chick, Tauriel or whatever was pretty cool, though i think the FORCED (cus it was totally forced) romance scenes between her and Kili was pretty lame, they totally just did that for the women audience, and to make it more tragic when they both die in the final battle (which i predict that they're gonna meet each other in the final battle, then be all like "i wont fight you, because i love you!" and then a dwarf or something will kill her from behind, and kilii will be like "NOOO!" and then he will get killed from behind by an elf or an orc, and then they will die in each other's arms all sadlike).
The Tauriel chick is also apparently from Calgary, Alberta (where i live) as well, so i thought that was pretty cool. Maybe she will be here at next year's comic con (which off topic, we got bruce campbell coming for next year's comic con, groovy.)

The meeting of Beorn seemed rushed, especially cus they totally changed it in almost every way.
It also seemed like they rushed the Spider scene and the elf mirkwood forest afterwards, then spent a bunch of extra time on unnecessary romance scenes that werent even in the books (or even appendices/simarillion, cus at least the Necromancer stuff was actually canon).

And again, the last scene in Erebor seemed too convoluted just for the sake of climix in the movie. Like the dwarves arent supposed to get into an epic battle with smaug and run through the city, but i understand why they did it, because the ending of the movie would have been pretty lame otherwise, it still seemed like it was too artificial with the rest of the story.

Still, i thought the movie was pretty badass, the visuals were freakin awesome, and i figure it's better then the first one overall (which it should be, i mean this is when all the action was supposed to happen).

The elves fighting was pretty badass, though it seemed like Legolas was more badass now then he was in lord of the rings. I really enjoyed the movie, the gandalf part in dol goldur was pretty awesome too (but again, first thing i thought after this part was "if gandalf went toe to toe with sauron now, the freakin balrog should be nothing for him in years to come, hahaha").

» Tue Dec 17, 2013 10:08 am

I agree almost totally. I think just a couple of nods towards the Tauriel-Legolas-Kili (or was is Fili) love triangle would have been a better use of time, as they could have put more detail into the points you mentioned.

And I think Sauron was only threatening and warning Gandalf. The Balrog literally roflstomped him.

Also, I don't think Gandalf in LOTR is allowed to face Sauron. I can't remember what the proper title for him is, but Gandalf the White is a higher being, and thus can't hold the younger races (Dwarves/Men) hand and just destroy Sauron for them. They must learn to fend for themselves. This is also why the Eagles did not intervene to save the day.

Also, I think the reason why the Elves are leaving is because they have now transcended and see themselves also as 'Higher Beings', passing the tests of Middle Earth, leaving it to the younger races.

The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug