The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

[kellyrfineman]

Yesterday, my sweetheart and I saw the last of The Hobbit films. I really loved it, and was quite emotional about it for a while afterwards. I think it's because (a) Thorin died (which I knew he would, since it's in the book), and the Tauriel/Kili/Legolas story line really hit me as well and (b) it's likely Peter Jackson's last foray into the

Comments

[ext_2338497]

I have to say, Kelly, I had the total opposite reaction to the Hobbit movies. I sobbed my heart out the first time I READ Thorin's death and cry every time I reread it. But it was so different in the movie--the reasons behind it, the character himself, that I was so frustrated I didn't even feel like I was watching Thorin die.

And the love triangle made no sense to me, especially again because two characters involved aren't even in the book.

Finally, the backstory drove me crazy--I felt like it was a series of advertisements for the few people who hadn't actually seen the LOTR movies yet.

Whew. Some vent, right? Hope you don't mind me blasting it out on your blog--feel free to delete! Or respond that I'm nuts. I did actually enjoy the movies some, for themselves, and I'll admit that the fluid fighting of the two elves is beautiful to watch. My husband, who hasn't read any of the books and loves the LOTR movies, liked the Hobbit series a lot (we saw them all in sequence across two days), although he did say he was a bit confused by the plots.

Re:

[kellyrfineman]

Oh, I know there are LOTS of people in your camp, Becky. Including the comment below. But I happened to be okay with the films, overall, and in part for making the link between The Hobbit (which felt self-contained) and LOTR. Last time I read the books, I found Thorin to be selfish and deluded (although not necessarily suffering dragon sickness and marginally insane). He was more responsive to immediate threats, however.

That said, the changes they made to Thorin pale in comparison to what they did to the character of Faramir in the LOTR movies. He was a pure hero, straight and true and uncorrupted in the books, and in the movies, they had him hauling Frodo & Sam most of the way to Gondor as presents for his father, which was SO far from his character that I remain upset years later. And the treatment of Théoden as under a visible pall and being possessed by Saruman in the movies gets similar scorn from me, since in the books it's all more subtle and not so . . . obviously magic-y. But I still love the movies, despite those two departures, which really bug me.