One thing that I really like about those films is the attention to details ! Each location was very well done and each newly introduce
character was joy to watch ! The movie was very dynamic and there were so many things
happening . The scenery was beautiful , beautiful as
always !
One thing this film nailed completely is the characters !
Great , great casting !
So many cool characters in one movie should be illegal ! I
mean – the cast was amazing! Everyone was great ! Smaug was magnificent !
I really liked the movie but it felt not enough ! I was very
exhausted by the end and still wanted more . I wanted to spend more time in
Mirkwood , and more time in Lake Town ! More time everywhere! I could watch 9
hours version of Desolation of Smaug and I am not joking ;) ! It won’t be very practical
though :P
Now I think I cannot go on without spoilers so here they
come !
SPOILERS ALERT ! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK !
When I left the movie theater I felt very conflicted . I
knew that there will be changes and some sort of confrontation between the dwarves and the
dragon but the way it was actually made left me with confused feelings. But I
will get to that later .
One general remark – the film felt for me like a piece from
something bigger. It has a lot of action , as I said , but it also kind of
prepare us for the events coming up in the third movie. I want to see that final film before I can
fully comment on some of the creative choices made in the movie.
I am not sure if DoS can stand on its own. I guess one can
watch it knowing nothing of Middle-earth but I am sure that kind of person
would feel a little unsatisfied at the end .
Thorin and Gandalf @ Bree
I enjoyed that scene. It explained better the story of the
Arkenstone and why it’s important and adds more motivation to some characters’
actions later in the film. It was a character driven scene and did add layers to both Gandalf
and Thorin and … it was just such a treat !
Beorn
Beorn’s house was wonderful ! The enormous bees sure make impression . The breakfast scene , kind of reminded me of the book in a way nothing else fully did . I wanted more of it ! But I guess we gonna get more in the extended edition . I liked Beorn talking about how he doesn’t like dwarves but not liking orcs even more . He is really special character !
Mirkwood
Mirkwood was one of my favorite places from the book and I
was so looking forward to that ! It also went on pretty fast but it was really
gloomy and moody and with good sinister atmosphere .
Spiders
Again kind of shorter than I thought but totally cool scene
. The spiders were creepy and obviously very hungry . The most interesting for
me was to watch Bilbo’s evolving “relationship” with the One Ring. It was nice to see how the ring starts to influence the hobbit and to see Bilbo realizing how attached he is getting to this
small thing. It's arguable if he got attached to it too quickly or not – but
it was very well played moment and I liked it .
Thranduil
I love Thranduil ! I love Lee Pace as Tranduil . The elven king
was so haughty , cold and distant but all so elvish in this manners that I was bound to like him . One can suddenly tell he
has been on this world a long time . He feels so different from Elrond .
The Elves
I just adore all surrounding the wood elves ! Unfortunately
Bilbo found a way to get the dwarves out a little bit too fast so we couldn’t
see enough partying elves drinking wine but I will keep that part for my imagination , haha. ;)
The way Legolas and Tauriel were introduce was cool ,
different from the book , but more fitting to the feel and pace of the
film so it was alright .
Tauriel and Kili
I have few complains here. I think it was nice that Tauriel and Kili formed a
connection but I would much rather prefer their relationship to be in the area of mutual sympathy or understanding or sth like
that. There is too much history and differences between elves and dwarves to
make such an instant “attraction” believable for me . This is my personal
opinion. You might say that it was the attraction that made any sympathy
possible but , nevertheless , the suggestions to any love related feelings seemed
forced to me .
I would have cut down their dialog by a few lines to make their scenes more concise.
Tauriel is a cool character , she and Legolas are
great team but for the moment I feel their storyline hasn’t find its real strong
reason to be there yet and I guess it will be developed in the next film . I think Tauriel will be bringing more of the compassion and understanding towards other peoples that Thranduil seems to lack so much .
Legolas
Legolas
I enjoyed him being in the film more than I thought I would
. I loved the moment when he commented on the pictures of Gloin’s wife and son
! I really laughed so much ! Pure fan service and I loved it . Of course you
can always count on Legolas to perform some fun and cool stunt and he didn’t
disappoint this time neither.
I would have preferred if Legolas was left out of this “love triangle” and was presented just like Tauriel’s good friend but … alas , it is what it is .
I would have preferred if Legolas was left out of this “love triangle” and was presented just like Tauriel’s good friend but … alas , it is what it is .
Bilbo
I adore Bilbo ! I love Martin Freeman as Bilbo !!!
Absolutely ! He is great ! What else can I say ! I love all his little emotions
, movements , reactions ! He got few glorious moments and for me he always is
the heart of the story . Please bring more Bilbo !
Thorin
Honestly speaking , I didn’t like Thorin so much in the book
as I like him in the film . I blame Richard Armitage for this . I will be so
sad in the third movie , you can’t imagine ! in DoS Thorin starts to change but
still remains this great leader figure ! Most of his decisions are not entirely
noble but he is such a charismatic character that I can’t not like him !
Barrels
Great fun ! No wonder this is almost everyone’s favorite
scene ! Full of great moments !
Dol Guldur
Gandalf going where he shouldn’t go ( as usual ) – totally awesome ! I liked these scenes a
lot ! So creepy and epic ! I like the link they created for the LOTR .
Bard and Lake town
I absolutely loved Bard and I loved Lake town with all it’s
coldness and wetness. Lots of cool moments here as well ! I feel too tired now to mention them all .
The final attack of the orcs and healing wonded Kili was kind of ok ... I mean it was helping building up the tension , got few cool moment and all . But ... I am not so convince about certain things about these scenes . I would have cut some elements out . But nevermind that . Lets move on
The final attack of the orcs and healing wonded Kili was kind of ok ... I mean it was helping building up the tension , got few cool moment and all . But ... I am not so convince about certain things about these scenes . I would have cut some elements out . But nevermind that . Lets move on
Ending
Towards the end of the film , the big changes came so I needed
some time adjusting to that . The scene with Bilbo and Smaug was great , I see
why they made Bilbo take of the ring in this case and it was all great fun . That dragon got some vanity issues , for sure ! :P
They used few of my favorite lines from the book so I was so happy ! Just the scene was very well played ! :D I love that Dragon !
But later things got more and more far from my expectations . Everything was visually great , cool , intense , the dragon was AMAZING and so on . It even ended almost the way I thought it will end – with Smaug flying to Lake Town. I will lie if I say I did not enjoy it but …. I was kind of pulled out of the story that I know . It was like another story , all started being too different and it brought a strange new feeling to the events. The enormous gold dwarf facing Smaug as a symbol of so many things - of the return of the dwarves to their kingdom , of their will and determination and so on , was really cool thing not only visually but also as an idea . The gold bath as well was metaphorically interesting and visually amazing ( not maybe very clever to put hot things on fire-breathing dragon but that's ok , trying to drawn him in gold liquid was quite proper if nor very effective way to deal with Smaug ;) ) .
They used few of my favorite lines from the book so I was so happy ! Just the scene was very well played ! :D I love that Dragon !
But later things got more and more far from my expectations . Everything was visually great , cool , intense , the dragon was AMAZING and so on . It even ended almost the way I thought it will end – with Smaug flying to Lake Town. I will lie if I say I did not enjoy it but …. I was kind of pulled out of the story that I know . It was like another story , all started being too different and it brought a strange new feeling to the events. The enormous gold dwarf facing Smaug as a symbol of so many things - of the return of the dwarves to their kingdom , of their will and determination and so on , was really cool thing not only visually but also as an idea . The gold bath as well was metaphorically interesting and visually amazing ( not maybe very clever to put hot things on fire-breathing dragon but that's ok , trying to drawn him in gold liquid was quite proper if nor very effective way to deal with Smaug ;) ) .
The whole interaction between the dragon and the dwarves was fun . But the story finally got that one big turn that made the movie
something distinguishably independent from the book .
I realized how much my mind is condition to see the story to
go in one particular way and how much I have hoped it would . I don’t hate the
changes , I am kind of pondering over them . I am assimilating them . Like I
have just read a secret chapter to the story that makes me wonder how things
will turn out from now on . Now that my first “shock “ from that final changes
has passed , more I remember about them , more I enjoy them , because I am
letting go of my expectations . This is not the Hobbit I read , but it’s a
Hobbit I am enjoying to see . It has a strong connection to the book , but
it has a life of it’s own and I am loving both versions .
From a movie point of you , I understand that they wanted to have something more exciting for an ending and they wanted to add a confrontation between the dwarves and the dragon . Since in the movie version the dwarves seem more involved in the events ( in the book it's mostly Bilbo doing all the job ) , it makes sense for them to try to defeat the dragon . But does it really ? What did this change bring to the story ?
Even there were this grand finale , the movie really
remained unfinished . I got such a frustration after the end, even if I knew is
gonna end up that way ! Just the whole story remained on this cliffhanger !
In conclusion I can say that I loved the film because it was
beautiful , fun , entertaining , trilling , full of great characters
and wonderful location . Now that I know all it’s deviations and changes I want
to see it again so I can better enjoy it for it’s own merits .
It’s not what I expected and some of the choiced Peter Jackson made are maybe not the choices I would have made but still it’s a good film and I did
enjoy it ! I still have my doubts about certain things and I am waiting for the third movie to see how are they going to bring all things together . DoS is definately a very hard film to make because of endless storyline problems and I am sure many discussions will start about if the problems were well resolved or not . Honestly I haven't made up my mind about it myself. I need to watch it again , that much is clear !
Despite all little flaws , I do love those Hobbit & LOTR movies and I always will !
I admire the people who made them and I am thankful to all cast and crew for bringing
so much magic into my life by creating a Middle-earth full of wonder ,
authenticity and beauty .
