Anyone who has not seen at least one of the "Hobbit" films, one of very few truly movie theater worthy experiences, is simply not worth talking to.
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| Director Peter Jackson (photo credit: Yahoo Movies.com) |
All I can note is that I am amazed at how committed I've become to the series and to the characters. You invest so much in the Baggins family and their journey that you feel like you've shrunk by 3 feet and your feet have transformed into hairy paws. I have yet to read one of Tolkien's books, so I can't compare what was left out to what has been added in. What I know is that this movie brings you right into the heart of evil, yet continually fills you with hope.
I saw a 3D Imax version which was probably not the best way to see it. The 3D effects are good, great, and terrifying at times (i.e. forest spiders), but the glasses also make the film appear even darker and as you should know by know, most of Middle Earth is in a perpetual gloom as it is. Seeing an Orc that close is, in a word, sickening.
The dragon is (hold breath) well worth the wait. Smaug is the Ultimate Dragon. I know most of us think we know dragons as fire breathing, grouchy, man eaters and Smaug is all that plus eloquent, paranoid, crafty and just plain damn scary.
The movie is worth every dollar (even at $11 a ticket) and epic worthy at 2 hours and 40 minutes. Jackson has the annoying habit of ending the epic just as you are really becoming immersed, but not to fear, the Hobbit: Here, There, and Back Again (i.e. Hobbit Part 3) is forthcoming.
The scale of Desolation of Smaug trumps alien invasions, transforming robots, and any super man in a cape. In a film landscape riddled with overblown effects, Smaug uses natural, organic elements like mountains, lairs, animals, and fire to their fullest potential, making you gasp in wonder or cringe over and over. The story is affected by the special effects, but not driven by nor dependent on them.
Similarly, the characters are not just heroic stereotypes, but all of them suffer from occasional delusions of grandeur, selfishness, stupidity, and arrogance, even those photogenic Elves. Peter Jackson could have created a cult movie that only the most die hard fans would see. Truthfully, he could have gotten away with a less spectacular dragon or FX. Instead, he created a beautiful habitable world with spectacular vistas and perils for millions of us to enjoy.
Now in it's 4th installment, the Hobbit series just does what no other serial film has done or will do. It changes the standard, raises the standard, and now has become the standard. The Desolation of Smaug desolates the slew of lackluster big film events and in does it....with fire.
