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I liked it better than the first, but it went on about 40 minutes too long.
Tauriel rocked, no problem with her, her characterization, etc. Now usually the Elves in the books leave me cold, being too superhuman for my liking, but for some reason, I found the Elves more compelling in this second film (wanting to know about their backstory and lives) than the dwarves and oh yeah, the Hobbit I'm supposed to be caring about. Bilbo seems to fade into the background here.
Mirkwood was great, spider scene far more chilling and creepy than in the book. They seemed to have taken a cue from response to the Troll scene in the first film and are bringing less of the comedy moments.
That said, Bombur during the barrel ride was hilarious, but it does take you a bit out of the film, as do most of Leggy's stunts.
Benbatch fantastic as Smaug (natch) but the scene between him and Bilbo not as intimate and snarky bantering as in the books. So I think this was a bit of lost opportunity.
Gold is a very soft metal that melts at low temp, just sayin.
The scenery and costumes were impeccable, just as you'd think Middle Earth would look like, and nice that we weren't treading familiar ground, I was also noticing less musical themes repeated from the previous LOTR films. (that's something that distracted me from the first Hobbit film)
Not really feeling anything for Bard the Bowman and his family (those are Peter's kids, right?) but I get that they have to have people in Laketown so the attack by Smaug resonates more, I suppose.
Tauriel rocked, no problem with her, her characterization, etc. Now usually the Elves in the books leave me cold, being too superhuman for my liking, but for some reason, I found the Elves more compelling in this second film (wanting to know about their backstory and lives) than the dwarves and oh yeah, the Hobbit I'm supposed to be caring about. Bilbo seems to fade into the background here.
Mirkwood was great, spider scene far more chilling and creepy than in the book. They seemed to have taken a cue from response to the Troll scene in the first film and are bringing less of the comedy moments.
That said, Bombur during the barrel ride was hilarious, but it does take you a bit out of the film, as do most of Leggy's stunts.
Benbatch fantastic as Smaug (natch) but the scene between him and Bilbo not as intimate and snarky bantering as in the books. So I think this was a bit of lost opportunity.
Gold is a very soft metal that melts at low temp, just sayin.
The scenery and costumes were impeccable, just as you'd think Middle Earth would look like, and nice that we weren't treading familiar ground, I was also noticing less musical themes repeated from the previous LOTR films. (that's something that distracted me from the first Hobbit film)
Not really feeling anything for Bard the Bowman and his family (those are Peter's kids, right?) but I get that they have to have people in Laketown so the attack by Smaug resonates more, I suppose.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-12-31 03:43 pm (UTC)Oh, and there were Black people in Laketown! Considering future Middle-Earth demographics, I guess Smaug is going to eat us all. :)