"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."
I was prepared. I brought tissues. And I needed them. I'd hoped against all reasonable hope that maybe Fili, Kili and Thorin wouldn't die, but there never was much hope. Only a fool's hope, to quote Gandalf.
I can understand a lot of the criticism of this movie. The Hobbit as a trilogy has never lived up to Lord of the Rings, although part of that is the source material itself. But some of Peter Jackson's genius on LotR seemed to desert him a bit here - the CG was ropey in places, scenes seemed shoehorned in and out of place, some storylines just seemed to hang in thin air and not resolve themselves, and most of the dwarves got pretty short shrift. I'm not sure Ori or Dori or Bombur had any lines at all, and none of them got the farewell I thought they deserved.
But. But. It's still Middle Earth. It's still Bilbo and Gandalf and Thorin. And I cried, oh I cried at Thorin's death. Fili and Kili's left me a little unmoved, I have to confess - I think those scenes were too rushed, and I didn't like how they deviated from the book, where Fili and Kili fall defending Thorin. Kili here was killed defending Tauriel, which annoyed me. And Fili was just...killed. But Thorin, I wailed. It was a wonderfully strong scene, and Richard Armitage and Martin Freeman just nailed it. I was heartbroken.
Thorin and Bilbo's relationship in this film went through such turmoil. Bilbo seemed the one person Thorin trusted above all; even in the grip of the dragon sickness, when he doubted his own kin and suspected one of them of stealing the Arkenstone, he never for a moment considered that Bilbo could have done it. And everytime he looked at Bilbo there was such softness and affection in his eyes. When he gave him the mithril, with Bilbo having no clue of the value of the gift and the other dwarves just watching... And then Thorin would have thrown Bilbo from the ramparts, would have forced Fili to do it. And then that awful death scene and Bilbo's being at Thorin's side and crying...
I'm welling up again.
I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later, including what on earth the non-human people of Middle Earth seem to have against horses. We had characters riding moose, pigs, goats, driving rabbits, flying eagles - seriously, what's wrong with a horse? But I'll forgive a lot for the sight of Billy Connolly riding an armoured pig!
I need to see it again. Maybe tomorrow...
I can understand a lot of the criticism of this movie. The Hobbit as a trilogy has never lived up to Lord of the Rings, although part of that is the source material itself. But some of Peter Jackson's genius on LotR seemed to desert him a bit here - the CG was ropey in places, scenes seemed shoehorned in and out of place, some storylines just seemed to hang in thin air and not resolve themselves, and most of the dwarves got pretty short shrift. I'm not sure Ori or Dori or Bombur had any lines at all, and none of them got the farewell I thought they deserved.
But. But. It's still Middle Earth. It's still Bilbo and Gandalf and Thorin. And I cried, oh I cried at Thorin's death. Fili and Kili's left me a little unmoved, I have to confess - I think those scenes were too rushed, and I didn't like how they deviated from the book, where Fili and Kili fall defending Thorin. Kili here was killed defending Tauriel, which annoyed me. And Fili was just...killed. But Thorin, I wailed. It was a wonderfully strong scene, and Richard Armitage and Martin Freeman just nailed it. I was heartbroken.
Thorin and Bilbo's relationship in this film went through such turmoil. Bilbo seemed the one person Thorin trusted above all; even in the grip of the dragon sickness, when he doubted his own kin and suspected one of them of stealing the Arkenstone, he never for a moment considered that Bilbo could have done it. And everytime he looked at Bilbo there was such softness and affection in his eyes. When he gave him the mithril, with Bilbo having no clue of the value of the gift and the other dwarves just watching... And then Thorin would have thrown Bilbo from the ramparts, would have forced Fili to do it. And then that awful death scene and Bilbo's being at Thorin's side and crying...
I'm welling up again.
I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later, including what on earth the non-human people of Middle Earth seem to have against horses. We had characters riding moose, pigs, goats, driving rabbits, flying eagles - seriously, what's wrong with a horse? But I'll forgive a lot for the sight of Billy Connolly riding an armoured pig!
I need to see it again. Maybe tomorrow...