I watched The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug last night and for the most part, I really liked it. Maybe not as much as the first one, but it was a good movie. I say that up front because you may have assumed from the title that I didn’t like the movie and that this post is going to hate on it, but that’s not the case.
Just so you know, I will not give any specific spoilers of the movie (“there was fighting” should not be considered a spoiler). I will make references to the book, which was written about 80 years ago and is a little past the spoiler range.
You know it’s an epic movie when the poster for the Hobbit doesn’t even have the hobbit on it.
4. It rushed things
This is understandable, I know. Although I’ve heard many people say that this relatively short book should be easily made into one movie, there are a lot of long, drawn out scenes that would take quite a long time to show onscreen if everything was done strictly by the book. A sentence like, “They wandered for days” could make for a long, boring couple of minutes/hours. The editors have to pick and choose what they want to put in the movie and some things they need to pass over quickly. Still, there was some scenes that I was really looking forward to that got about five minutes of screen time. Which leads to the next point.
Beorn? Big guy, turns into a bear, troubled past, yada yada, next scene!
3. They added whole sub-plots
This one is a bit harder for me as a big fan of the book. I can understand cutting things to save time but then why add whole scenes and characters that are not in the book at all? It rankles me.
I understand, to a point, and ironically, the reason they need to add material is because they’ve cut or rushed parts of the story (not because the movies are too short by any means, although I think that when it comes to Tolkien-based movies, the longer, the better). The book has its own rhythm and if you were just to cut or rush parts, some of it would just seem like a frantic rushing from scene to scene with no development. So, they inject development into places the movie needs it because it has a slightly different flow from the book.
But still . . . holy cow, there are a lot of intertwining sub-plots. Almost every character gets their own little tangent.
This chick gets about as much screen time as Bilbo.
2. Fighting . . . and more fighting
The book, The Hobbit, had a fair number of action scenes, although not a high body count beyond the fight with the spiders and the Battle of the Five Armies. The movies, however, have a higher body count than some war movies.
I get it. It’s a movie and it’s a lot more exciting seeing cinematic fighting and insane elf moves than just watching Bilbo trudge through Mirkwood thinking about how he wished he was back in his own house by the fire (not for the last time!). And I honestly enjoyed the fight scenes, for the most part. The fighting outlasted my interest by about five minutes, which in a 3-hour movie, is not that bad, I guess.
Watching it 3D, you’re guaranteed at least a dozen arrows right through the heart.
1. Characters know way more than they should
This is something that bugs me in other movies too, but especially so in this one, since it happens several times. A character will look at someone and say something like, “Ah, I see by your expression that you are planning on going to the Lonely Mountain to regain your lost kingdom” or “You’re wearing a belt. You must be in the party of Thorin Oakenshield.” What? Characters display almost preternatural levels of intuition and knowledge. This especially bugs me because it occurs in places where the plot of the book revolves around those characters not knowing some very key information. And in the movie, they know it in a second.
(Deep breath) Fine, it’s a movie. They don’t have time to . . . well, for character development, it . . .
No, forget it. This is not a necessary evil. This is something that I really didn’t like about the movie.
I am all-knowing: I have a paperback copy of the book under my throne.
I realize that this post has been incredibly vague with specifics in some parts. So, go watch the movie (if you haven’t already) and let me know if you agree with me. If you disagree, we’ll fight it out with bow and arrows while riding down a river in barrels.
(BONUS TIP: If you haven’t seen the movie yet, but are planning to, watch for a quick, walk-through cameo by Peter Jackson in the very first shot.)
The Green-Walled Tower 
December 17th, 2013 at 10:53 pm
Peter Jackson used to be in his old movies, so that’s really cool.
December 17th, 2013 at 10:59 pm
He kind of looks like a hobbit anyway so he fits in well.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:12 pm
Gotcha!
December 18th, 2013 at 12:15 am
I watched the first three parts more than once, that is TLOR trilogy, as a loyal fan of that trilogy i will try to watch these three too. have watched the first part already, was a tad disappointed but not as much as most of the people.
fighting was a bit too much for me in the first three parts too but they managed by excellence of the remaining. well, if there is even more fight then it will make the movie a bit more boring but i am saved because i watch at home with remote 🙂
December 18th, 2013 at 4:21 am
Look for a volkswagon beetle. Apparently he has one in every film. Although I have not seen one in any, but there again, I tend to get engrossed in the film to be looking for twit bits. Only if them twit bits really jump out (Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor swapping places in Terminator 1 where Reese gains a moustache).
Can you answer a question for me … does Legolas go in disguise? Just a “yes” or “no” would be cool 🙂
December 18th, 2013 at 7:41 am
no, not that I remember.
December 18th, 2013 at 7:46 am
Okay, thanks 🙂
December 18th, 2013 at 5:07 am
Not a huge fan of this film. I liked the first one, but this one was a snoozefest for me. I really can’t figure out why he couldn’t have made it into 2 movies instead of three, it seemed like all filler, without even using much of the main character…the hobbit! I’ve invested my time watching the first two, so I’ll watch the third. I just wish he comes out with an abridged version and takes out all the excess.
December 18th, 2013 at 9:37 am
I’ve watched the LOTR trilogy and plan on watching the halfling saga too.
December 21st, 2013 at 7:40 pm
It’s a good watch overall. I’d recommend it.
December 18th, 2013 at 2:00 pm
its very tough to make a devoted fan of the book happy. I have a book of that category- in one word its my favorite (elaborated- one of the books in a tight list of books)- its a trilogy about a very poor village boy’s life. One of my favorite directors made a trilogy on these three books.
The first one earned him world wide applaud- I am the only person who just does not likes it i believe.
there are two child characters (main) in this book, the hero apurva and his elder sister durga. The first time i read this book i instantly bonded with Durga, and when i watched the movie i just did not liked the kids that played those roles- that butchered the movie for me.
in the remaining two parts, the actors played well (durga dies in the first part itself, as an eleven year old girl so she was not required in the remaining two parts).
I am pretty sure the same will happen if i watch a movie on “of human bondage”, btw is there any movie made on it?
December 21st, 2013 at 7:39 pm
I console myself by reminding myself that no matter what they do with the movies, the books will always be the same and untouched. So even if they mess up the movie, I can always read the same books. 🙂
December 22nd, 2013 at 6:40 pm
I watched and I enjoyed especially I loved Dragon… He is the star of this film. Thanks and Love, nia
December 22nd, 2013 at 6:41 pm
Yeah, they did a pretty good job with him. The animation was excellent.
December 24th, 2013 at 4:44 am
Going to see it this week, hopefully. I’ve heard mixed reviews, and will probably agree about the fighting scenes.
December 24th, 2013 at 2:40 pm
I liked it overall. I love the story.
December 24th, 2013 at 10:03 pm
[…] just went and watched the second Hobbit movie a couple days ago. And while I didn’t like everything about it, it was a pretty good movie. However, even if they had really butchered it, the book The Hobbit […]