This is a review written by a dear friend of mine. I thought it worth putting here since we love reviews. You can find the original on her Tumblr account here: Elen sila lumenn omentielvo
Also she is a new member of our blog here, she goes by the name, Goldberry. Hope to see more from her in the future.
Enjoy.
*Before reading, know that this entire piece of writing is a spoiler. If you have seen the movie or simply don’t care, then proceed. For the rest of you however, this has been your official warning.
Another short disclaimer. I want to note that this movie tore me in two. I loved it on a cinematic entertainment type level; I was thrilled and thoroughly enjoyed it, even some of the deviations from the original text. However, some of these deviations bordered on the realm of ridiculous and so much of this movie’s content was not canon that I felt like a bad fan for liking it. It is hard wanting to defend the film to yourself and others, even when you know that there were some things that shouldn’t have happened. It is conflicting, and it may make this commentary seem conflicting. I apologize ahead of time for this. I hope you enjoy my comments.
I was really impressed with the film as a whole, however, minor issues presented themselves as I watched, particularly the love triangle between Legolas, Tauriel and Kili, and the attempt to kill the dragon at the film’s climax. Other than that, I found it very well done with lots of rip-roaring action, amazing acting, beautiful sets and special effects, and some of the most marvelous music I’ve yet heard in Middle Earth films. I was definitely satisfied with this film, but I felt I would have enjoyed it more had there been less focus or no focus at all on the Tauriel/Kili and Tauriel/Legolas subplots. I felt it took away from more than it added to the film. Despite all though, I am pleased with what PJ and co. have produced and look forward to next year’s third and final installment.
Bilbo Baggins: We received a marvellous performance from dear Mr. Freeman. As always, he brought his special charm and comedic skills into the role and made Bilbo totally loveable and admirable. Bilbo has also grown a little since the last film, in the eyes of his friends and in his own. He has become more and more courageous, and his dwarf friendships are strengthed, particularly with Thorin, as he moves into the greatest test of strength he will yet face, meeting Smaug, the dragon beneath the Lonely Mountain.
Bard the Bowman: Excellent character and I loved the fleshing out of his story, his children were beautiful and adorable, and their presence will certainly make the stakes higher for Bard personally in the third film. Luke Evans was amazing, and his character was very much like I’d imagined (except for his costume, it looked a little funny, like a bathrobe).
The Dwarves: Certain dwarves got a little more screen time, particularly Bombur, Bofur, Kili, Dwalin and Balin. While some of the fleshing out of their characters I was less than pleased with (think Kili flirting with Tauriel), I enjoyed the rest for the most part. Bombur’s barrel ride was entertaining, if not somewhat ridiculous, and Balin’s tears when returning to Erebor were beautiful. They are a wonderful group to watch on screen, and they really make you smile and laugh and cry with them.
Smaug: What can I say? Smaug was the absolutely only thing in this movie that was so amazing I was speechless, and I think the rest of the audience was in awe as well. In reading the book, I hardly imagined him to be so enormous and magnificent, but of course PJ and co. would pull out all the stops when given such promising material as a big, fire-breathing, gold-grabbing, dwarf-roasting dragon. You could see Weta Digital’s detail and careful attention down to the last scale, he was absolutely amazing and totally perfect. The only, and I mean, the ONLY thing about him that I wish was different was his color. In the film he seems kind of a dirty gold color but on all the covers of the books I’ve seen, he is pictured as a fiery red beast. If that small detail was in place, it would be utterly and completely perfect. I guarantee he was worth the wait.
Gandalf: Ian Mckellen, as always, you amaze me as Gandalf, you are just so right for the role and bring our dear old wizard to life in ways that I don’t expect anyone else could. Every gesture and mutter and huff and every twinkle of the eye is brought to glorious life and I couldn’t imagine anyone doing a better job. Gandalf’s character was spot on as always in this film, and I can’t wait to see how he gets out of his little situation in the next film.
Thranduil: I don’t know what I was expecting, but Thranduil was a diva to say the least. In the best of ways of course, there were some instances where the performance could have been toned down, but overall, I found Thranduil to be totally amusing and a very interesting personna. He is nothing like the wise, powerful and kind elf rulers we have seen thus far (Galadriel, Celeborn, Elrond), he is a bit darker and a bit more human. He had incredible costumes and interesting lines, and just a very arrogant and powerful demeanor that was played very well by Lee Pace. I can’t wait to see him in the next film, in the Battle of the Five Armies. When we got our first look at him on his throne, I couldn’t help but think of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast “I use antlers in all of my DECORAAATING!”
Legolas: Unlike most of my friends, and many other fans, I was perfectly fine with and even a little excited to see Legolas kicking butt again. The obligatory over-the-top Legolas action has never been a favorite of mine, but I do appreciate the character and it was very interesting to see him at home, in his element, interacting with his father and friend Tauriel. And, since this is Legolas in the past, it is quite fun to see a bit of his arrogant, jerk side (which I’m sure he inherited from his father). I loved his brief interaction with Gloin, when he calls Gimli a goblin mutant (the whole theatre laughed knowingly at that point), and also, in Laketown, when Bolg gives him a bloody nose (No one makes me bleed my own blood!). Orlando did another fantastic job and I look forward to seeing Legolas’ growth and role in the next film.
Tauriel: I went in a skeptic, came out still a skeptic (but a softer one). Tauriel seems to have taken hold of even some of the most devoted of Tolkienites, which surprises me immensely. Of my peer group, none of us like her very much, but I think what we really hate most is the love triangle. However, putting that aside for a moment, Tauriel is a decent, likeable character who does interest me, despite her non-canonness. She is a very skilled warrior, as captain of the Mirkwood guard, and kind-hearted, and wiser than those she serves in some cases. Yet, I felt there were many aspects of her overdone and Mary-Sue-ified. Her warrior skills are at Legolas’ calibre, which makes sense as the captain of the guard, but as prince, and you know, someone who later surfs on shields, dances on dwarf heads, and takes down Oliphaunts single-handedly, shouldn’t he be the more skilled one? Also, being captain of the guard seems like an awfully high rank to give to a) a self-described “lowly silvan elf” b) a young elf and c) a girl elf (not trying to be sexist, just considering the Middle Earth world). I mean, what did she do to earn that position? We’ve seen she can fight yes, but what other credentials does she have? There is also the fact that she is both warrior and healer, which in Tolkien’s universe, was a choice elf-maidens made, either warrior or healer. Her red hair is another issue that I don’t know about personally, something about Feanor and his descendants being the only elven red-heads? To me, it just seems like another ploy to make her stand out among the other characters (not to mention, if she had black hair like actress Evie Lilly, she would be an Arwen clone). And of course, the love triangle, in which she (fulfilling the dreams of Leggie fangirls everywhere) is being crushed on by Legolas and is innocent to it, while befriending the handsome dwarf prisoner (and saving him a few times to boot). This, especially the first part, just seems like bad fanfiction to me. I was hoping the Legolas/Tauriel “romance” would simply be a strong friendship, but it turns out I was wrong about that. Anyway, Tauriel herself is fine with me, I just wish that elements of her had been ignored or downplayed in the film. Evangeline Lilly did a beautiful job and the character has been interested, I am certainly curious to see what will become of her in the next film. My personal theory is that she will die in the Battle of the Five Armies but we’ll see what comes next Christmas.
The Master of Lake town: Now this guy was certainly irksome, and disgusting, not quite as much as his lackey, Alfrid, but enough to get under my skin (in the best of ways of course). Stephen Fry gave a magnificent performance, one that very much mirrored my own vision of the Master from the books. It was humorous, and entertaining, and I’m eager to see more of him in the EE’s hopefully, and the next film. Alfrid as well, was played excellently, and he will be an interesting character to explore further in the next film. Perhaps he will regret tripping up Bard, the one who’s going to save him and the town.
Beorn: His scenes were so short that there was hardly anything to see, but I was certainly happy with him nonetheless. Though he did not much resemble the black-haired, buff Beorn in my head, I found his design to be well done. He has beautiful horses and a beautiful log house, and yard. It was amazing looking at the set and seeing how large all the items were. It must have been fantastic being on that set. His bear form (while not black like I’d imagined) was glorious and I am REALLY excited to see him clawing up the orcs in the next installment. And hopefully, get some more scenes on the EE’s.
The Spiders: Cleverly done dialogue and CGI and character and action. Bilbo really shone in this scene, and there was so much going on in his hobbit head that Martin Freeman portrayed beautifully. It was clever of PJ and co. to use the Ring to include the spider dialogue, it explained them out of a huge plothole with Shelob. Also, Bilbo’s scene with the little spider thing was excellent. A great foreshadowing of things to come.
The Necromancer: While this is one of the bigger deviations from the books, I wasn’t horrified by it. As part of the White Council arc and (hopefully) Battle at Dol Goldur arc, I think it does well to tie The Hobbit back into LotR. However, some concerns do present themselves. Mainly how Gandalf is not supposed to meeet Sauron in one-on-one battle. That was a bit of a mistake on the writers part. What I did like is how much better Sauron’s eyeball looks with new CGI. In LotR, it was often ridiculous looking, while much of the other CG was great, I guess it mostly had to do with the whole notion of a giant, all-seeing eye looking out across Middle Earth, which works well in the books, but not so much in the films. What was nice is that we get a visual of Sauron’s power and darkness and malice, we see what he can do, something missing from LotR. So this sequence wasn’t awful for me, and I’m very interested to see what happens to our dear wizard in the next film.
Laketown: I think the art department did fantastically with this set, it is a very thorough mixture of simplicity and poverty, yet beauty of neighbours and family. There is a certain element of danger, and the darkness of the mountain that overshadows them. But the struggled and hope of the people for better days and better things lives on. It is not at all a nice place in these days, but you can see remnants of a happier past.
Bree: It was definitely nice seeing Bree again, see Peter-carrot-chomping-Jackson, the Immortal carrot-eater. And revisting the Prancing Pony felt familiar, yet strange. Katie Jackson’s cameo was very cute, and the thugs sitting in Aragorn’s corner were frightening, I felt Thorin’s edginess as he ate. The discussion between Thorin and Gandalf and the cut to the Company was cleverly done.
The Ending: Having read the books, the ending was not disappointing to me. But I could hear the shock and disbelief and groans among the rest of the audience as ‘I See Fire’ began and the credits rolled. It is going to leave audiences on edge for a whole year, and I am super excited to see how it picks up after that cliffhanger. Can’t wait to see Smaug in action, and a whole bunch more things! What a way to end, Peter Jackson, very brave and very good work.
There and Back Again: I have many hopes and dreams and theories and speculations for the next film, everything in DoS was left at cliffhanger and I am super excited to see just exactly how PJ will play it all out. At the same time, I am fairly certain this will be our last trip to Middle Earth (at least with Peter Jackson) and while I am eager to see the last film, I almost wish it would never end, I am going to probably cry at the theatre next year, so those of you who are going with me, don’t laugh, just bring some kleenex.
This is our last year guys. While many of us weren’t completely impressed with how Peter has handled The Hobbit (particularly DoS), I think we will all be sad to see the Middle Earth films coming to an end next year. Here’s to an outstanding, world-wowing finale next winter.
And, as always, thank you to all the fantastic and talented people on the cast and crew who have dedicated literally years of their lives to make movies for pathetic little fangirls like me. Blessings to you all as you bring these films to their final close.
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