My Bookshelf

Wednesday 15 January 2014

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug


The Hobbit trilogy; a filmic masterpiece or an exercise in making the longest films ever out of a very average sized book? As much as I'd like to believe and feel the former, I am desperately struggling to get past the latter unfortunately.

I think if I were a film maker *makes mental note for whenever Stylist magazine ask me my Plan B career* I would struggle to not want to make my mark. I heard last week that Scorcese has allegedly managed to make it into the record books with The Wolf of Wall Street by making a movie that has the highest usage of the F-word in any other movie other than a film about the F-word itself... over 500 utterances apparently. If Peter Jackson's adaptation of the Tolkein classic is indeed an indulgent attempt to make it into the record books with the greatest amount of screen-time per page of a single novel, then I have to say he's doing a pretty good job. I'm not going to go out there and say it's the best film I saw last year. It's far from it: it's too long and it's not got enough content to stop me from looking at my watch... but it could be SO much worse.

Maybe not the words Peter Jackson wants to hear from the likes of Empire or Total Film, but I'm pretty sure he won't give a hobbit's foot what I think so I'll make the most of my insignificance.

I definitely preferred this film to the first in the trilogy. The plot still feels stretched but overall it felt more 'whole' somehow, like it stood by itself better than the first. The ending was less abrupt too, a nice cameo from Orlando Bloom, a bit of dwarf flirting that was absent from part 1, LOVED the melting gold and there was a little bit more pretty in the form of Bard the Bowman for which I was thankful. Talking of casting, if there were ever a film that better solidified the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch will become the next Anthony Hopkins or Michael Gambon of brilliant British voiceovers, then I don't know what will. Cumberbatch as Smaug has got to be a highlight.

Overall, I'd wait for it on DVD if it weren't for the stunning scenery that continues to scene steal throughout.

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