wanted: a good job, plenty of excitement and reasonable reward
So I just got back from seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. This, therefore, by a process of deduction known as "Katie is a massive nerd", would be the flaily spoilery post.
Oh man is this movie ever filling the exact hole in my heart that I hoped it would. I have missed the Lord of the Rings movies being part of my December: they became tradition, and when they finished I wished there could be a new one every December. I think Peter Jackson had at least some of that same feeling, because this didn't need to be several movies at all, and if he'd wanted to he could have just done the very basic Hobbit story and moved the fuck on. But nope, I think he had all these little moments in mind right from day dot, and that if he'd had his way he might have done the forty four version of LOTR itself or whatever.
*flail flail* I mean sure it's ridiculous and arguably overdone and a lot of it is scenery porn, but that's what I go to those films for. It's EPICNESS and HOBBITS AGAINST THE ODDS and all the potential quibbles in the world don't beat that, for me.
If anything it was more satisfying than the LOTR movies for me because it had the time to be ridiculously indulgent where those didn't. All the added stuff from the Silmarillion was extra icing on the cake for me, and can I just say that I laughed and laughed and laughed that one of the things they randomly added out of nothing but their own heads was the story of a hedgehog called Sebastian? I just. Also the random reference to the Blue Wizards having no names, which was entirely gratuitous and yet kinda designed to make me happy in an 'oh my god I'm such a geek' way. I like geeks, and I like that these movies have absolutely no shame or compunction about going GEEK GEEK GEEK GEEK as loud as ever they can.
I also really like the framing thing! I expect I will like it even more when all the movies are out, because it will then make more sense pacing-wise I suspect, and maaan do I love how determined they are tie it all together into the same universe/continuity. Like how Gandalf was awesome (I love the whole silhouetted-by-fire thing even if it is cheesy) but sort of like he was still on apprenticeship for being Gandalf the White, which, hey, he sort of was.
I also really like that while it is silly, it is also a movie that takes the Dwarves seriously. It's a bit like this is the real version of what Bilbo wrote down as The Hobbbit. In a really ridiculous directed-by-Peter-Jackson way. Relatedly, I think Smaug not-seen will be way better than Smaug seen. Although the eye at the end does imply that he will be pretty impressive. And Martin Freeman is not only really good as Bilbo in a way I wasn't expecting, but he looks EXACTLY like a younger Ian Holm. EXACTLY. SO WEIRD. HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT.
(Also my life is not ready for the amount of Martin Freeman-as-a-hedgehog/Benedict Cumberbatch-as-a-dragon porn that will happen soon. Yeee-ikes.)
(Also also, HEDGEHOG NAMED SEBASTIAN. I....yeah.)
Basically, I am so going again and I will probably flail about it more because YAY HOBBITSES. Come and talk to me when you've seen it, yo.
This entry was originally posted at http://soupytwist.dreamwidth.org/100035.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Oh man is this movie ever filling the exact hole in my heart that I hoped it would. I have missed the Lord of the Rings movies being part of my December: they became tradition, and when they finished I wished there could be a new one every December. I think Peter Jackson had at least some of that same feeling, because this didn't need to be several movies at all, and if he'd wanted to he could have just done the very basic Hobbit story and moved the fuck on. But nope, I think he had all these little moments in mind right from day dot, and that if he'd had his way he might have done the forty four version of LOTR itself or whatever.
*flail flail* I mean sure it's ridiculous and arguably overdone and a lot of it is scenery porn, but that's what I go to those films for. It's EPICNESS and HOBBITS AGAINST THE ODDS and all the potential quibbles in the world don't beat that, for me.
If anything it was more satisfying than the LOTR movies for me because it had the time to be ridiculously indulgent where those didn't. All the added stuff from the Silmarillion was extra icing on the cake for me, and can I just say that I laughed and laughed and laughed that one of the things they randomly added out of nothing but their own heads was the story of a hedgehog called Sebastian? I just. Also the random reference to the Blue Wizards having no names, which was entirely gratuitous and yet kinda designed to make me happy in an 'oh my god I'm such a geek' way. I like geeks, and I like that these movies have absolutely no shame or compunction about going GEEK GEEK GEEK GEEK as loud as ever they can.
I also really like the framing thing! I expect I will like it even more when all the movies are out, because it will then make more sense pacing-wise I suspect, and maaan do I love how determined they are tie it all together into the same universe/continuity. Like how Gandalf was awesome (I love the whole silhouetted-by-fire thing even if it is cheesy) but sort of like he was still on apprenticeship for being Gandalf the White, which, hey, he sort of was.
I also really like that while it is silly, it is also a movie that takes the Dwarves seriously. It's a bit like this is the real version of what Bilbo wrote down as The Hobbbit. In a really ridiculous directed-by-Peter-Jackson way. Relatedly, I think Smaug not-seen will be way better than Smaug seen. Although the eye at the end does imply that he will be pretty impressive. And Martin Freeman is not only really good as Bilbo in a way I wasn't expecting, but he looks EXACTLY like a younger Ian Holm. EXACTLY. SO WEIRD. HOW DID I NOT KNOW THAT.
(Also my life is not ready for the amount of Martin Freeman-as-a-hedgehog/Benedict Cumberbatch-as-a-dragon porn that will happen soon. Yeee-ikes.)
(Also also, HEDGEHOG NAMED SEBASTIAN. I....yeah.)
Basically, I am so going again and I will probably flail about it more because YAY HOBBITSES. Come and talk to me when you've seen it, yo.
This entry was originally posted at http://soupytwist.dreamwidth.org/100035.html. Please comment there using OpenID.