The Desolation of Smaug

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ChickenSoup
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Orodrist
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That was about my thoughts on it. It had its moments, sure. Just didn't deliver at all.
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It was a great movie but nothing like the book.
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ChickenSoup
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I laughed my butt off at Bombur taking out all the orcs while rolling around in the barrel around the river bank.


You know, the way you laugh as you feel your dreams slowly dying and are not sure how to respond :P
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As a fantasy action film set in a D&D style universe, I loved it. Especially that Bombur part; best action cinematic of 2013. Even more so when he burst through the barrel and used it as body armor. Glorious.

As The Hobbit...I could both weep and write a large ranty post about it, but I honestly don't want to take the slightest chance that anyone would interpret that as meaning I loved it but won't admit it. I'm not even certain the screen writers and/or Peter Jackson (and Del Toro, who...pretty much did exactly as I thought he would when I heard of his part in it) even bothered to read the book, or just forced one of his assistants to do it and give him ideas for fight scenes and a werewolf tie-in.

In short...it blew my mind in so many ways.
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I accepted a long time ago that these movies weren't going to be completely faithful to the book. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not sure what you guys were expecting after An Unexpected Journey and even the LOTR trilogy. As a 100% book-to-movie adaptation, the movie fails in that regard. But I loved the movie, and I thought the deviations made were in spirit with the book. The movie itself was much better than An Unexpected Journey, and really my only problems was some moments where the CGI wasn't fully rendered and the last few minutes. It would've felt much more satisfying if they replaced what happens to Smaug with the tower of gold thing. However, Smaug is one of the main selling points of these movies, so with 3 movies it makes sense to leave him for the end. Plus his, "I am.....death." line was so awesomely epic. I also had no problem with Kate from Lost. I thought her fight scenes were awesome, and her character's morals accurately represented the conflict the Elves had in the Third Age. The romance was a little forced, but I didn't really care.

I am ready to have my fan card revoked.
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I actually enjoyed the first movie immensely and white knighted the deviations from the lore as being in spirit with the Hobbit. Then I saw this one and realized it wasn't worth defending :P

The general consensus based on my lazy internet search seems to agree with me. They didn't need 3 movies, and this was a more obvious grab at le benjamins.
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Honestly I like looking at Evangeline Lilly as much as the next guy, and yes her fight scenes were awesome, but that was the most awkward, forced romance I have ever seen and I never want to see her character again. It would actually have been to the benefit of the movie to have her with Legolas just so at the end of the trilogy you can see him called away.

Also speaking of Legolas, that CGI on his face sucked. I understand the necessity but it was horrible. And he's an unlikable....
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Orodrist wrote:Honestly I like looking at Evangeline Lilly as much as the next guy, and yes her fight scenes were awesome, but that was the most awkward, forced romance I have ever seen and I never want to see her character again.
THIS
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http://danielwareking.blogspot.com/2013 ... 0-big.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

My friend posted this on facebook.

Pretty much sums my opinions on the movie. It has spoilers if you really care.
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ChickenSoup wrote:I actually enjoyed the first movie immensely and white knighted the deviations from the lore as being in spirit with the Hobbit. Then I saw this one and realized it wasn't worth defending :P

The general consensus based on my lazy internet search seems to agree with me. They didn't need 3 movies, and this was a more obvious grab at le benjamins.
The deuce. I wasn't thrilled with the deviations in the first one, but could accept them, as it was generally spot on in the feel; the whole "Bilbo stands up and defends Thorin amidst a burning wasteland" scene was overplayed and ridiculous, but at the same time...it's something Bilbo would have done. Something he did do, just later. And multiple times. I could even accept the Necromancer stuff, as that happened in Tolkien's world, just not in the LOTR or The Hobbit.

But this...I don't even. I just don't even.

I do think Smaug was awesome though. Maybe it was the Dolby Atmos or whatevs, but when a dragon's growl shakes the candy box in your hand, I call it a good night.
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It's a bit dangerous for me to lurk in his thread, but screw it.

Concerning the first movie, the deviations would be bearable if they weren't so campy. The Bilbo defending Thorin was overplayed, and worse, it rushed their character relationship development. Thorin's not supposed to really accept Bilbo to the end, but now they threw it in at the end of the first movie.
They did the same stupid thing with Sam, where Sam is supposed to be a bumbling hobbit following Frodo around until mid way through return of the King. But no, they had to man up his character extra early, so when Sam takes the ring after he thinks Frodo dies, it's not nearly the monumental occasion it could have been. It's supposed to be a pivotal moment for Sam, where he realizes what's at stake, the cost of the quest, and what he needs to take upon his own shoulders. In a sense, it's his rite of passage, but now it's just another step. And the one scene where Frodo sends Sam away? Disastrously against character.
Then, all the cheese they threw in. Radagast could have been a lot better, instead of leading a chariot of rabbits and sport bird poo on his face. I get he was "simple," but not complete idiot. Riding the knees of the mountain giants? Oooh, wow, this 3D movie is a ride! And one of the most disappoining was the Goblin King. I couldn't imagine a campier way to kill him off. The Rankin Bass cartoon only had a spinning sword and it was far more dramatic.

As for the second, I haven't seen it yet, but I know of the additional of Tauriel and the alluded romance with Fili, was it? I've been dreading it. Her overwhelming presence in the trailers has been disheartening, and seriously, a romance?

Who thinks these are good things? "Yeah, I get we're cinematizing a classic novel, but, today's movies need stupid gags, a female character and definitely a romance with said female character. Throw in a new elf, and make her like the cute dwarf. Yeah, yeah, we're awesome and Tolkien can suck it." I'll reluctantly admit that deviations can work, if they were so poorly written. Second rate hollywood crap.
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ChickenSoup
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As for the second, I haven't seen it yet, but I know of the additional of Tauriel and the alluded romance with Fili, was it? I've been dreading it. Her overwhelming presence in the trailers has been disheartening, and seriously, a romance?
It was a couple scenes here and there, but it made me resent ol' PJ immensely.

Also, from Pheonix's link, THIS summarizes my further thoughts excellently:
There's a reason why The Desolation of Smaug feels aimless, random, disconnected and inconsequential. It has no heart, no core, no unifying element that ties it all together. Why? Because Bilbo is a background character, relegated to comedic relief and errand-running. I would guess that his overall screen time adds up to about half of what it was in the first film, if that. Bilbo is no more fleshed out than any of the dwarves when it comes down to it; even Kili seems to get more attention with the silly Tauriel subplot. Jackson makes feeble attempts to highlight Bilbo's growing attachment to the ring, but the movie loses sight of that all too quickly. Yes, Bilbo has his big scene with Smaug, but he's just an errand boy who survives because of dumb luck instead of his wits. I got the same feeling watching Smaug as I did watching The Dark Knight Rises; that sinking realization of "Wow, Batman hasn't been around for a while... and I'm two thirds into the movie." I don't even understand how this happened, how such a grievous error was made on the part of the writers and the director.

I distinctly remember seeing Bilbo do something or other significant (probably the spider scene) like 30 mins into the movie and thought, "Oh yeah, Bilbo."


Martin Freeman is literally the epitome of what I picture as Bilbo. When I found out he got the role, I was thrilled. The fact that he's a background character in Smaug was disappointing.
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I really liked the movie. but thats typical for a 13 year old. I liked the pugs.
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I do have to say, for all the failings of the writers, the casting is pretty great. Bilbo is well done, although I might move for a little more upbeat and cheerful, and Richard Armitage nailed Thorin, which is an important facet for me. A bigger beard and a sky blue hood would have been in order, though. Ian McKellan, as always, is fantastic as Gandalf.

Judging just by the first movie, I thought Lee Pace did a pretty sweet job as Thranduil. I'm looking forward to seeing more, along with some other choices, like Luke Evans as Bard.
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