|
Post by Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill on Dec 14, 2013 16:36:46 GMT -5
Surprised there's no thread for this yet. Anyway I just got back from the theatre and my thoughts are as follows: First non-spoilers: -The art design is f***ing incredible, PJ and his team seriously needs more recognition for making Middle Earth look the way it does, Lake Town looks like a setting right out of Skyrim (more on that later) -The film is much more fast-paced and actiony than the last one, along with more character development and compelling plot. Still love the first one, but the sequel really stepped up to the plate. -Couple scenes I would have made shorter/remove entirely. More in the spoilers. -Stephan Fry as The Master of Lake Town was everything I expected it to be. Now SPOILERS! {Spoiler}{Spoiler} -The scene with Beorn at the beginning was absolutely useless, I'm not sure if he has a larger role later (I know he's in the final battle of the book but doesn't do much in that). Anything new we learned from him could have easily been exposited by Gandalf without sacrificing twenty minutes of unnecessary backstory.
-Mirkwood was genuinely creepy and I loved the spider fight, although I'm not sure how I feel about them talking.
-RANDOM ROMANCE OUT OF NOWHERE. Kili (sp?) and an original eleven chick have a thing for each other and Legolas is jealous and oh god this subplot felt pointless. Forced romance is bad romance.
-Designs of the Wood Elves home was great, it was obviously made to look eleven but was still distinctly different from the Wood elves of Fellowship. Once again props for the art team.
-Third time in the course of two films that the Dwarves are captured and Bilbo has to rescue them. I know we need to get from Point A to B but this trope got a bit old.
-Absolute love the design of Laketown, once again feels unique and gave me an urge to play Skyrim.
-Why does everybody in the LoTR verse speak in riddles and poetry?
-SMAUG oh my god Samug...I would so go gay for that voice because it's so amazing. Incredibly smooth but with a hint of ferocity that shows itself when he gets pissed.
-I like the big climax and chase through the Underground caverns but dragged a bit near the end. Speaking of...
-Holy f***ing...I don't know what to say about it. On one hand I have respect for Pete because he ahd the balls to end a film that way but on the other hand I feel ripped off yet satisfied. God dammit Pete.
-Also, it's clear that Laketown only needs the Dragonborn to help them
|
|
BorneAgain
Fry's dog Seymour
Posts: 20,465
Member is Online
|
Post by BorneAgain on Dec 14, 2013 16:39:55 GMT -5
Very fun; in many ways stronger, though in a few weaker than the first film.
First off, good god are the sections with Smaug fantastic. I knew it would be good, but within five minutes I was ready to declare him the best LOTR film villain. Voice work was tremendous as expected but the expressions of him were a really pleasant surprise. Definitely hyped to see what he does in the first act of There and Back Again. The interesting characterizations of all the various other players (The Master of Laketown, Bard, Thranduil) also really fleshed out Middle Earth too.
The more consistent tone was a nice change of pace from the constant shifts of An Unexpected Journey and the build towards an actual real conclusion (the Lonely Mountain) was clearly preferred to the more awkward finish of the first film. It does suffer in comparison to AUJ with too many simultaneous plot threads and slightly less organic character development. The stuff with Tauriel and Kili almost works given the chemistry of the actors, but still comes across as rushed and given the major plots going on with Smaug and the Necromancer a bit out of place. I suspect much of it is leading towards the elves involvement with the battle of the five armies, but we'll see.
Overall though very solid, and with enough elements to put it above the first film.
|
|
|
Post by The Tank on Dec 14, 2013 16:48:58 GMT -5
And the best character is still Bombur. Who is fat. And lazy. {Spoiler}AND A WHIRLING DERVISH OF DEATH!!!!!!!!!!
Seriously, that whole river sequence negated the movie ending on a cliffhanger.
But agreed, kudos to Jackson for having the guts to do it. I was pissed, but it just left me wanting the final movie even more.
|
|
|
Post by Hakumental on Dec 14, 2013 18:46:20 GMT -5
+ Heavy on adventure.
- Thin on character.
++ Tauriel is actually not that out of place in the story.
-- Legolas is.
+++ Smaug steals the whole damn movie.
--- I cannot drive Smaug to work in real life.
Really, it's worth seeing just for the Smaug scenes. I wish he'd gotten a particular line from the book in full, but his acting and animation are just perfectly synched and he's easily the most memorable part of the film.
|
|
Jiren
Patti Mayonnaise
Hearts Bayformers
Posts: 35,163
|
Post by Jiren on Dec 14, 2013 19:59:19 GMT -5
I loved it and I thought it breezed through it's 2 hours 40 min runtime, (Whereas the first felt it's length)
|
|
Crappler El 0 M
Dalek
Never Forgets an Octagon
I'm a good R-Truth.
Posts: 58,479
|
Post by Crappler El 0 M on Dec 14, 2013 22:35:19 GMT -5
I liked it more than part one. I popped huge for the Colbert cameo, which I wasn't looking for. I remember hearing that he visited the set, but most of the speculation was that he would be in the first one.
|
|
Talent Name
Ozymandius
Got fined anyway. Possibly a Moose
James Franco is the white Donald Glover
Posts: 63,598
Member is Online
|
Post by Talent Name on Dec 14, 2013 22:48:43 GMT -5
The main reason I want to see it is because I love Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman. I heard great things about it and I loved the first one.
|
|
mcmahonfan85
Fry's dog Seymour
Posts: 24,085
Member is Online
|
Post by mcmahonfan85 on Dec 15, 2013 0:19:04 GMT -5
with the exception of the spiders i loved it (Shelob was also the one thing i didn't like about LOTR. ironically, Spider-Man is my favorite superhero)
|
|
|
Post by Ryback on a Pole! on Dec 15, 2013 1:49:55 GMT -5
Loved it. Amazing movie. Anyway... what I loved.
1 - Cumberbatch was Dragontastic as Smaug; by far the highlight of the movie. He completely killed it.
2 - The added backstory for Bard. In the book he gets no backstory or development. Jackson has made him a really engaging character.
3 - The barrel scene was a hell of a lot of fun.
4 - Loved the creepiness of the spiders
5- Stephen Fry was awesome as the Master of Lake Town.
6 - I enjoy that Fili and Kili get a bit more of a focus
7 - Great scenery
8 - Tauriel's character was surprisingly likeable and not annoying.
9 - Saurons appearance
10 - That creepy place Gandalf expored where the ring wraiths were buried.
11 - The reduced slapstick, comedic action scenes which were in the first one. The fight scenes were much better in this movie.
12 - Smaug
13 - The cliffhanger ending. That was perfect; from Smaug's "I am fire... I am death" line to Bilbo's worried look and "what have we done?" comment. Fantastic.
14 - Smaug should get his own movie. He really was amazing.
What I didn't like
1 - Whenever Tauriel and Legolas fought - She got really annoying and Mary-Sueish whenever she did any fighting. The Dwarves fight good, but do look vulnerable in the fact they always seem to try to escape the Orcs rather than fight them. Tauriel and Legolas destroying Orc after Orc after Orc made them look a joke and took any tension away from them as enemies because of how easily they demolished them.
2 - The spider scene was shorter than expected. Would have liked to see Bilbo taunt them.
3 - Tauriel's actresses performance just didn't hold up to the rest of the cast imo.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2013 2:19:17 GMT -5
I thought it was alright. I can't deny that the movies look beautiful and are of few to actually justify being 3D. The action was definitely cool.
I find myself rolling my eyes a lot because these last two movies are really like a wrestling match with so many false finishes you find yourself not caring anymore about who wins or loses. The perpetual cycle of "the gang is in great peril, find themselves rescued at the absolute last minute by a third party" scenarios that play out it just ingrains in my mind that as bleak as things get, I really have nothing to be worried about, someone will put an arrow in that orc's back before he can really do damage. Like that barrel chase sequence where one of the guys' barrels just happened to stumble on land and just bowl over a pack of orcs, those orcs get crushed with so minimal effort that I just don't buy them as a threat when they come around. I can't tell if this is a movie that expects me to be on the edge of my seat through the whole thing or just treat it like a Disneyland ride. One thing that I just started laughing about was the unnecessary theatrics of Legolas, there was a point where he was just making a short leap from a dock to a boat, and he for no reason put a spin on it.
I really liked the ending, that would have been really cool as the absolute end of the series. I found Thorin's slow decent into megalomania to be the most compelling thing going on in this series, and having his unrelenting need to take his place as king of his homeland to lead to the consequence of what is assumed to be an apocalypse led by a bloodthirsty dragon would be pretty wild for a series like this. I have not read the books though and getting a feel for the pattern of these movies I can't help but expect Gandalf to pop in near the start of the next installment, and cast a big "f*** you, Dragon" spell and move on to the next adventure.
So yeah, cool action and cool visuals but I didn't find any of the drama to be as gripping as it seemed to think it was.
|
|
Juice
El Dandy
Wrong? Oh he can tell ya about being wrong.
I'm the one who raised you from perdition.
Posts: 8,172
|
Post by Juice on Dec 15, 2013 22:44:32 GMT -5
I thought it was great. I missed the last one in theaters so this was my first Hobbit 3d experience and that new fps or whatever makes the cgi look the most life like I have ever seen.
|
|
|
Post by Mesousa287793 on Dec 15, 2013 23:02:36 GMT -5
Well, yeah, the Elves are still written as if they were almost invincible, but I marked out for Tauriel anytime she appeared. Cause we needed a badass lady.
Sadly, she's sort of forced in a romance, though, it's more from Kili's side than hers, really.
Also, the reaction to the ending in the theater I watched it on was filled with "WRYYYYYYYYYYYYY?" reactions. Yep.
Oh, and I didn't like Laketown much...it slowed the film down a bunch.
|
|
|
Post by Citizen Snips on Dec 15, 2013 23:24:34 GMT -5
3 - Tauriel's actresses performance just didn't hold up to the rest of the cast imo. The cast could have been several torn garbage bags, a dead raccoon and a pile of broken branches and Evageline Lilly still would have given the worst performance.
|
|
543Y2J
Patti Mayonnaise
Seventh level .gif Master
Posts: 38,794
|
Post by 543Y2J on Dec 16, 2013 13:50:58 GMT -5
Saw it yesterday, amazing and phenomenal, loved it. Jackson is at his best again. I am going to spoiler my thoughts, because I am not entirely sure which one's may or may not constitute as a spoiler in this thread. {Spoiler}{Spoiler}
- I have always been a Legolas mark so I am a bit biased here but I though him/Tauriel fit really well into the story. Tauriel's love story was a bit of a downer though I do admit, but you always need/have that kind of stuff in a Jackson Epic Adventure movie so I have no real big problem with it at all. I loved how Legolas was portrayed as less mature to being younger and being a lot more ruthless, loved the return of his snowboard while firing arrows spot.
- The pace was PERFECT. I would say it built to a crescendo, but the it started from a frantic pace from the beggining and I mean that in the best way possible. The action in the final act was seemless between all of the individual/group confrontations, and I loved it.
- I can't even pick anything out as filler scene wise (except from the love story a tiny bit that I already mentioned). Marked hard for the barrel river, introduction of Sauron, Bilbo vs Smaug battle of wits, the Mirkwood Spiders/Wood Elves intro, but I feel bad singling out anything becuase it was all brilliant.
- I realized they were running out of time and were going to resort to a cliffhanger but I thought it was going to be when the black arrow would be released from Thorin, as they built it up so much as it needs to be hit right/perfectly. I felt just to see the massive arrow heading towards Smaug in a wide shot could have been just a good of a cliffhanger. But it was a truly beautiful and poetic place to finish at. It pretty much guarantees that the final installment is going to get crazy real quick with the amount of confrontations about to happen.
It does make me wonder how much of the The Similarion they have put in as it has been rumored they have used a bit of that as well, I hope they have I have heard it has a few decent things in it that could fit well and have it come full circle and increase the world and its history even more.
I am trying to remember more stuff I was thinking about but I shall hopefully remember and write it later
Easy 9/10 for me, so many mark out moments. Shall try and see it again while it is at the cinema. Looks like it is following the LOTR formula: 1st one decent, but is more of a taster and an introduction to the story/characters 2nd shit get's real and stuff really starts picking up 3rd all hell breaks lose and we get an epic conclusion ....hopefully. Well done Peter Jackson again, The Hobbit has been a nice apology for The Lovely Bones!
|
|
|
Post by Cela on Dec 16, 2013 14:25:01 GMT -5
I'm not sure if I liked it.
It was really pretty, but...
God mode Legolas and Mary Sue Tauriel reek of fan fic. The orcs and goblins are no threat whatsoever. The dwarf sequence at the end really dragged. The ending made me want to yell obscenities at the screen. There is a place the movie should have ended, it was hinted at the entire movie.
|
|
|
Post by Cela on Dec 16, 2013 14:29:47 GMT -5
I liked it more than part one. I popped huge for the Colbert cameo, which I wasn't looking for. I remember hearing that he visited the set, but most of the speculation was that he would be in the first one. When was it? I caught Peter Jackson, but not Colbert.
|
|
Crappler El 0 M
Dalek
Never Forgets an Octagon
I'm a good R-Truth.
Posts: 58,479
|
Post by Crappler El 0 M on Dec 16, 2013 15:04:52 GMT -5
I liked it more than part one. I popped huge for the Colbert cameo, which I wasn't looking for. I remember hearing that he visited the set, but most of the speculation was that he would be in the first one. When was it? I caught Peter Jackson, but not Colbert. He was a man of Lake-town, briefly visible before Bard takes the Dwarves and Bilbo to his home.
|
|
|
Post by Psy on Dec 16, 2013 17:14:24 GMT -5
I was disappointed by the shoddy CGI and unnecessary scenes (as others have mentioned). It's not a bad movie, but I felt like it could have been so much more.
|
|
|
Post by Red Impact on Dec 16, 2013 19:04:39 GMT -5
I wasn't really a fan.
It was better than the first, the action scenes were really fun, if a bit too long and overdone, and Smaug was amazing. And holy hell, Legolas actually bled inbetween bouts of god-moding. That must have caused a break through in Peter Jackson's group sessions.
But it still had all the same problems that I had with the first. Unlike the Lord of the Rings movie, these movies have no arc of their own. I can watch any of the LotR movies on their own and get something out of them, I don't think I can with these. And it's split so we can overly draw out Lake Town and give us an interspecies love triangle? Not even to develop the other dwarves? It's still a big step down from LotR for me.
|
|
|
Post by Cela on Dec 16, 2013 19:08:32 GMT -5
I wasn't really a fan. It was better than the first, the action scenes were really fun, if a bit too long and overdone, and Smaug was amazing. And holy hell, Legolas actually bled inbetween bouts of god-moding. That must have caused a break through in Peter Jackson's group sessions. But it still had all the same problems that I had with the first. Unlike the Lord of the Rings movie, these movies have no arc of their own. I can watch any of the LotR movies on their own and get something out of them, I don't think I can with these. And it's split so we can overly draw out Lake Town and give us an interspecies love triangle? Not even to develop the other dwarves? It's still a big step down from LotR for me. That blood scene bugged me. "Oh crap, we have to show vulnerability... make him get a light nosebleed after effortlessly killing a legion of orcs, and make the orc that gave him the nosebleed flee in terror!"
|
|