Our regular theater was undergoing retooling after having been sold yesterday, so we went to one we hadn't been to before in Denton--Cinemark. Much older that what was the Rave and the seats were much less comfortable. The movie was so good, I didn't hardly notice, but poor TR came out positively crippled and complained he would never go to the theatre with me again...that may change with time, of course. Interesting that he never said a word until the movie was over.
I had not expected to like it. The Hobbit is one of my very favorite books--I taught it to at least one class (my best readers) every year I taught (yes folks--34 years with me playing the parts of Gandalf, Gollum, and Smaug nearly every time)--and I'd seen enough of the previews to know that a great deal was being added to the original story line.
To me, the worst thing that a movie-maker can do to a book is to ignore the original author's theme--the truth about life that is illustrated throughout the book. The truth is that The Hobbit does divide pretty naturally into three sections...and those Peter Jackson has been true to. Each of those sections is about greed--the dwarves greed for the gold. Smaug's greed for gold and riches. Thorin's greed for the arkenstone (as well as gold), the elves' and lakemen's greed for the riches of the mountain. To that Peter Jackson adds things that Tolkien did not make apparent until The Lord of the Rings--Bilbo's growing greed for the ring and Sauron's greed for power. Doing this has added to Tolkien's theme and has shown great love and respect for the saga. He has also given Legolas (who didn't even show up in Tolkien's The Hobbit) even more cause to hate dwarves.
Jackson has given the elves, dwarves, and orcs much more to do than they had in the original and has made the dwarves much more courageous than they originally were, but none of this disturbs the fundamentals of the book. Can you tell that I loved the movie??? And it was in 3-D. Really cool.
OK, I was on the fence about this one and now I am going tomorrow. Nice review of the movie.
ReplyDeleteLet me know what you think. You were the one who introduced me to Tolkien.
ReplyDeleteWell I have seen the Desolation of Smaug and felt it was very well done. A long time ago I learned to accept the fact that movies based on books are adaptions and not movies of the book. One things, as you mentioned, is that Peter has keep to the spirit of the Tolkien books and has done a very good job of integrating the books action with what he feels needs to be added to create a good movie. The IMAX 3D was amazing and, again like you noted, the time passed so fast and the hook at the end sure make the wait for the third installment next year hard to take.
ReplyDeleteLOL. I knew it would end there. It was logical, but only because of what happens next. It is the natural end to the middle major action of the book and the beginning of final. I don't know if Bilbo actually has the Arkenstone yet. I'm think that Jackson may begin the last installment with a "flashback" to action not really seen in this movie showing Bilbo pocketing the Arkenstone.
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