Went to The Hobbit last night...
...and thoroughly enjoyed it. The faster projection speed didn't faze me, and I was very satisfied with the 3D effects.
My favorite moment was when Gandalf talked to the moth to send a message to the Eagles, and the moth flew towards the camera/audience.
My second-favorite moment (there were two of them) was the very short and non-speaking appearance of Thranduil at the beginning of the movie. I'm still a bit bothered by those VERY thick, VERY black eyebrows that look more like catepillars - but I'm hoping that, by the time I've seen Thranduil acctually act, I'll be convinced to ignore them. I happen to like Lee Pace, so I'm willing to withhold judgement until I see more than just brief moments of him. And that stag/moose that he was riding was Something Else - hadn't ever thought about that, but in afterthought, it really does make sense.
If I had one beef, it was with the rapid-movement scenes. When the party was falling down into the Goblin lair, the effect was dizzying and almost grainy. The action otherwise was well-done. The humorous moments were chuckle- and even guffaw-worthy. Bilbo really anchors the movie; you can see the character develop as the story moves along from a complacent, happiest-at-home hobbit with a reading obsession to the adventuring, awkward but swash-buckling hobbit he ends up to be. The riddle game with Gollum was VERY well done.
I'm still not quite "up" one which Dwarf was which name-wise, but Kili and Fili were drool-worthy, as was Thorin. Some of the others were more comic relief than anything else. I found it interesting that PJ gave the Dwarves a cultural habit of belching after eating - and of making a contest of it. Those familiar with Arab customs will appreciate.
Elrond was great, as expected. I do like Hugo Weaving in that role (and I know there are those who vigorously disagree with that.) His fluid delivery of the Sindarin dialogue is also drool-worthy. It makes me want to see the movie again just so I can listen more carefully when it happens. Blanchette is once again distant and dreamy as Galadriel, and her Sindarin is delivered slowly and carefully, fully in keeping with her character as she deliverse her English lines in the same way.
They did a great job in shifting from Ian Holmes/Elijah Woods as Older Bilbo and Frodo to Martin Freeman's Bilbo. In fact, Freeman and Holmes look enough alike that one can suspend disbelief long enough to believe that they are the same character, separated by sixty years.
It was good to see Christopher Lee as Saruman again, and that he was able to stay seated to hide his frailty. He could otherwise act just as imposing as ever with that lovely deep velvet voice of his. He injected just the right amount of pending doom to the entire scene.
Radagast was a riot!! Sylvester McCoy's ability to cross his eyes and use that gesture to communicate feelings was superb. I love that PJ retained his having a bird's nest under his hat - and I was surprised at how spry he was portrayed. I'm assuming that he had a double running and jumping to get away from the Necromancer - if it was McCoy, however, he's still in FANTASTIC shape!!
I'll be waiting with baited breath for next December's installment of the tale. The last scene was the perfect cliff-hanger!!
All in all, a very satisfying movie - and I was steeling myself to be disappointed. So now I can relax and just fan-girl until the EE is available on DVD. :-D
My favorite moment was when Gandalf talked to the moth to send a message to the Eagles, and the moth flew towards the camera/audience.
My second-favorite moment (there were two of them) was the very short and non-speaking appearance of Thranduil at the beginning of the movie. I'm still a bit bothered by those VERY thick, VERY black eyebrows that look more like catepillars - but I'm hoping that, by the time I've seen Thranduil acctually act, I'll be convinced to ignore them. I happen to like Lee Pace, so I'm willing to withhold judgement until I see more than just brief moments of him. And that stag/moose that he was riding was Something Else - hadn't ever thought about that, but in afterthought, it really does make sense.
If I had one beef, it was with the rapid-movement scenes. When the party was falling down into the Goblin lair, the effect was dizzying and almost grainy. The action otherwise was well-done. The humorous moments were chuckle- and even guffaw-worthy. Bilbo really anchors the movie; you can see the character develop as the story moves along from a complacent, happiest-at-home hobbit with a reading obsession to the adventuring, awkward but swash-buckling hobbit he ends up to be. The riddle game with Gollum was VERY well done.
I'm still not quite "up" one which Dwarf was which name-wise, but Kili and Fili were drool-worthy, as was Thorin. Some of the others were more comic relief than anything else. I found it interesting that PJ gave the Dwarves a cultural habit of belching after eating - and of making a contest of it. Those familiar with Arab customs will appreciate.
Elrond was great, as expected. I do like Hugo Weaving in that role (and I know there are those who vigorously disagree with that.) His fluid delivery of the Sindarin dialogue is also drool-worthy. It makes me want to see the movie again just so I can listen more carefully when it happens. Blanchette is once again distant and dreamy as Galadriel, and her Sindarin is delivered slowly and carefully, fully in keeping with her character as she deliverse her English lines in the same way.
They did a great job in shifting from Ian Holmes/Elijah Woods as Older Bilbo and Frodo to Martin Freeman's Bilbo. In fact, Freeman and Holmes look enough alike that one can suspend disbelief long enough to believe that they are the same character, separated by sixty years.
It was good to see Christopher Lee as Saruman again, and that he was able to stay seated to hide his frailty. He could otherwise act just as imposing as ever with that lovely deep velvet voice of his. He injected just the right amount of pending doom to the entire scene.
Radagast was a riot!! Sylvester McCoy's ability to cross his eyes and use that gesture to communicate feelings was superb. I love that PJ retained his having a bird's nest under his hat - and I was surprised at how spry he was portrayed. I'm assuming that he had a double running and jumping to get away from the Necromancer - if it was McCoy, however, he's still in FANTASTIC shape!!
I'll be waiting with baited breath for next December's installment of the tale. The last scene was the perfect cliff-hanger!!
All in all, a very satisfying movie - and I was steeling myself to be disappointed. So now I can relax and just fan-girl until the EE is available on DVD. :-D