Blogmas day 15, 2014: the Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

Halloooooo !!!

Today was the day I've been looking forward to since the first of December. Today I saw the Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies.

For the occasion I went to Odeon Leicester Sq to witness the last part of the trilogy on the premiere screen. That is right. Of all the premieres that I saw on Leicester sq I finally set foot inside the theatre. And because it was off peak (mon-fri before 5pm) AND Odeon Premiere Club Film Fan Monday (25% discount) I was able to go for a reasonably 'good' price. (Still waaay too expensive, but cheaper than I thought it would be).

Since I've read the book and knew how it was going to end and Peter Jackson being Peter Jackson, I was 100% sure that I was going to cry. And the movie delivered. The cast, the music (Howard Shore, duh), the directing. I am looking forward to see the extended dvd edition.

I've heard some moderate opinions before I saw the movie and read a few reviews after I saw it. Whilst some are not pleased at all (with being hugely disappointed as an understatement), others are very very very enthusiastic and some just hover somewhere in between.

I do agree with some of the negative comments and thoughts, but about some reservations I have my opinion as well. Let me give a few examples.

1) The fact that it is such an action packed movie is an issue for quite a few people. the Battle of the Five Armies... Come on. What did you expect?

2) The fact that the Battle of the Five Armies is just one chapter in the Hobbit and a whole movie in the trilogy. Some parts work better on screen and some work better on paper. Battle sequences work better in movies and character thoughts work better on paper. In the book Bilbo passes out during the battle and wakes up after the battle is over and basically missing out on a part of it. Now that would be anticlimactic, wouldn't it?

3) Was it necessary to make 3 movies? Probably not. Two movies would have worked just fine. But I am glad they didn't just stick to the book though. If they had only used the material the book provides, I think it might have ended up beeing a really boring movie. What works on paper doesn't always work on screen.

4) Comments on the 'badly written' Tauriel-Kili love story and is a love story necessary if you want to tell a good story? Maybe not. I didn't miss a love story in the book anyway. But the movie has to reach another audience as well and a love story always helps + it gives an extra story line. And I am kind of glad they added a bad ass female character to the story. Tolkien approved or not.

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

5) The death of Smaug was anticlimactic. I disagree. I was genuinely worried they would milk out Smaug's destruction of Lake Town and keep it going and going and going. But I am so glad they did what they did. Just like in the book: bam, he's dead, before you even realise it, without beating around the bush. 

6) Too many doors are left open at the end. Agree. No funeral, no coronation, no explanation. You just skip from Bilbo and Gandalf to Bilbo saying goodbye to the dwarves and then to the road back to Bag End. Wait, whut? Exactly.

These are just 6 examples of things I agree with and things I do not agree with. And I could keep going on and on :)

But I'd like to add: cut Peter Jackson some slack. He didn't want to direct this movie in the first place as he thought he'd be competing with himself. And that is exactly what he ended up doing. The expectations after LOTR were insanely high. So imagine yourself in such a position. Exactly. Not a happy place to be. I think he did a terrific job. And in fact, because of the Hobbit trilogy I can't wait to read the appendices of LOTR and the Silmarillion :)

If someone said to me tomorrow: "you have to see the Hobbit again" I'd be happy to! :)

Thanks for reading
xo - Sara