Also, The Hobbit
Now that I think of it, I also watched the first Hobbit movie over winter break, so what the heck, have some OPINIONS.
The short version is: yes, it's padded to all hell, but I loved it. The longer version is, the moment I heard it was going to be three movies I knew there would be padding. I mean, if you've read the book, you know that. The nature of the padding is twofold. First, some things were added whole cloth (Radagast is mentioned in a single line in the book, but never appears; similarly, the Necromancer is mentioned but remains entirely off page; they never fight Azoth or whatever his name is, although Bolg appears in the Battle of Five Armies; and so on and so forth). These things aren't exactly invented, since they come directly from other Middle Earth canon sources, but they aren't, strictly speaking, from the Hobbit. They're inserted pretty well, though, and don't feel out of place, since they're just expanding on things that were mentioned in the book. The Hobbit is odd that way, in that there's a sense of other things going on that Bilbo isn't involved in, with his journey being just one small adventure in the grand scheme of things. The movie just puts these elements in as on-screen moments. The sled chase did get a bit long and the humor style for Radagast's scenes wasn't my taste, but they were fine.
The movie is ALSO padded with action sequences. In a sense it can be fairly described as a series of action scenes strung together by occasional moments of plot. Which isn't a bad thing; the action scenes are very well-filmed and exciting, and it's entertaining. And the Hobbit itself is sort of a series of events loosely strung together. It has an episodic style. So, the padding suited the style of the story.
They also went to some effort to give the thing more of a plot. I adore the book, but it has a rather comical style, most of the dwarves never emerge as distinct characters, overall it just doesn't have an epic feel. But for the movie, they managed to make it much more epic in style, with the tragic backstory flashbacks and the ~*drama*~ and etc. All of which worked very well, in my opinion; what's cute in a book doesn't necessarily translate to the big screen, and the epic plot still retained a lot of the comical elements of the book. They combined the two aspects really well in my opinion.
It's cute, funny, but manages to have an epic feel. It's not exactly deep, but it's entertaining. And the visuals and soundtrack are gorgeous. The mountain views etc. lend it an epic feel.
I will also say that if you watch this movie and don't end up shipping everyone x everyone, you clearly are not as into shipping as I am. Seriously though this movie lends itself surprisingly well to that. XD
I want to see the second one whenever it comes out, although I suspect I will be massively squicked out by the spiders. I mean...just...gah. Giant evil spiders on the big screen. Pretty nasty.
One final thought is that they managed to make the dwarves look halfway competent. In the book, basically every character other than Gandalf is massively incompetent (which may be why it appeals to me so much). Thorin is less of an INTENSE DUDE and more a middle-manager who happens to own a mountain, the dwarves are pretty bumbling, Bilbo is also bumbling...by the end of the story Bilbo actually becomes one of the MOST competent adventurers. Which is part of why the book is very funny and cute, but I guess would not have worked as well for a movie. XD
The short version is: yes, it's padded to all hell, but I loved it. The longer version is, the moment I heard it was going to be three movies I knew there would be padding. I mean, if you've read the book, you know that. The nature of the padding is twofold. First, some things were added whole cloth (Radagast is mentioned in a single line in the book, but never appears; similarly, the Necromancer is mentioned but remains entirely off page; they never fight Azoth or whatever his name is, although Bolg appears in the Battle of Five Armies; and so on and so forth). These things aren't exactly invented, since they come directly from other Middle Earth canon sources, but they aren't, strictly speaking, from the Hobbit. They're inserted pretty well, though, and don't feel out of place, since they're just expanding on things that were mentioned in the book. The Hobbit is odd that way, in that there's a sense of other things going on that Bilbo isn't involved in, with his journey being just one small adventure in the grand scheme of things. The movie just puts these elements in as on-screen moments. The sled chase did get a bit long and the humor style for Radagast's scenes wasn't my taste, but they were fine.
The movie is ALSO padded with action sequences. In a sense it can be fairly described as a series of action scenes strung together by occasional moments of plot. Which isn't a bad thing; the action scenes are very well-filmed and exciting, and it's entertaining. And the Hobbit itself is sort of a series of events loosely strung together. It has an episodic style. So, the padding suited the style of the story.
They also went to some effort to give the thing more of a plot. I adore the book, but it has a rather comical style, most of the dwarves never emerge as distinct characters, overall it just doesn't have an epic feel. But for the movie, they managed to make it much more epic in style, with the tragic backstory flashbacks and the ~*drama*~ and etc. All of which worked very well, in my opinion; what's cute in a book doesn't necessarily translate to the big screen, and the epic plot still retained a lot of the comical elements of the book. They combined the two aspects really well in my opinion.
It's cute, funny, but manages to have an epic feel. It's not exactly deep, but it's entertaining. And the visuals and soundtrack are gorgeous. The mountain views etc. lend it an epic feel.
I will also say that if you watch this movie and don't end up shipping everyone x everyone, you clearly are not as into shipping as I am. Seriously though this movie lends itself surprisingly well to that. XD
I want to see the second one whenever it comes out, although I suspect I will be massively squicked out by the spiders. I mean...just...gah. Giant evil spiders on the big screen. Pretty nasty.
One final thought is that they managed to make the dwarves look halfway competent. In the book, basically every character other than Gandalf is massively incompetent (which may be why it appeals to me so much). Thorin is less of an INTENSE DUDE and more a middle-manager who happens to own a mountain, the dwarves are pretty bumbling, Bilbo is also bumbling...by the end of the story Bilbo actually becomes one of the MOST competent adventurers. Which is part of why the book is very funny and cute, but I guess would not have worked as well for a movie. XD