The Hobbit

Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan

Directed by: Peter Jackson

Rating: It Was OK

As you can see above, I've decided to add a new rating choice to my blog: It Was OK.  There are a lot movies that I watch that weren't bad, but weren't good, or were good, but I didn't like, or...well you get the idea.  I hate that this movie is the first one to receive that rating, but that's the way it is.

I had high expectations going into this movie, and often times I would say that may have influenced my opinion of the film.  I don't believe that was the case here.  I knew going in that there would be lots of filler in this and the two films to follow.  The book on which they're based just doesn't contain enough story to support three movies.

Mainly what was done to fill the time was to introduce lots of story and characters from the series' appendix, which is ridiculously huge on its own.  For die hard fans of all things LOTR, this was awesome; for the casual movie goer, you're going to feel like the movie could've been much shorter.

The Good:

• The graphics, as expected, were very good all around.  
• All of the actors were great.  
• I particularly enjoyed a scene where Gandalf, Elrond, Saruman, and Galdriel met in Rivendell and  discussed the group's journey.  This is somewhat contradictory to my earlier grievance about the film feeling too long, but I can't lie about enjoying the scene, despite the fact that it very easily could've been left out of the film.  
• The way that the character of Smaug has been dealt with in a sort Jaws-esque theory of monsters (the less you show the better) is good.  If we got to see the entire dragon in the first movie, what would we be looking forward to later.  
• The band of dwarfs in its entirety, though a little overly goofy at times, is well cast.  They are true to the character of the dwarfs that was set up by Gimli.  The difference is that one dwarf worth of goofiness goes a long way, and now, we have a whole group!
• I rather enjoyed the side story of the pale orc.  
• The riddle scene with Gollum and Bilbo is great.  

The Bad: 

• Unfortunately, the things that were bad in this movie that really stand out for me don't fall under this category.  Please see below.  

The Ugly: 

• I don't know that I really need to say anymore than just The Goblin King.  The piece of the movie that really lost me was the line that he uttered that went something like "that'll do" after being killed by Gandalf.  
• I understand that there will often times be plot holes in movies and books.  I also understand that what I'm about to reference was indeed in Tolkein's original work.  I just can't figure out why he wrote it into the story.  Why don't the eagles just carry the group all the way to the end of their journey!!!  There's a simple answer: because there wouldn't have been much of a story.  There's a philosophical answer: because the characters need to do for themselves to grow and learn.  I get all that, but at the same time, just write in some other plot device to save the group that couldn't also easily end their troubles.  I have no suggestions for what, but...wait I do...  What if there were just a couple of eagles?  Why not have just one or two eagles come save them, and then, they'd have to make a couple of trips, and there would also be a simple reason why the couldn't take them all the way: there weren't enough eagles to carry them all.  Stupid eagles...