The Hobbit Reviews

saw it a couple nights ago. I'll write a review. Overall, I liked it. There was stuff that bothered me a bit and I don't think it achieves the greatness of the LOTR movies. I don't think the framerate bothered me at all but I couldn't make out what was happening in many of the fights. The whole fight sequence in the caves was just nuts. Reminded me of Temple of Doom a bit what with the falling scaffolding and such.

The trolls talking bothered me some because the original cave troll is just a big stupid monster and they look almost identical.

I really like that the orcs speak orcish but again this bothers me only cuz all the orcs in LOTR spoke the Queen's English.

But yeah, definately a success and I look forward to the next one. I couldn't stop getting surprised by everyone showing up. It never stopped how many people were in the movie that I didn't think would be. Great surprises for me.

My review really quick...

THE HOBBIT

I think most would enjoy this movie. I don't think it rises to what the Lord of the Rings movies were able to achieve, however. It is still a good movie regardless.

I think the action sequences don't work nearly as well, it is hard to follow what is happening (the sequence in the caves when the bridge/scaffolding collapses and falls was terrible). There are a few inconsistencies with the LOTR movies that bother me (trolls that talk English, orcs that talk Orcish (I wish the orcs in LOTR spoke Orcish as well).

Lots of surprise appearances that never grew old and were actually increasingly enjoyable. The performances are all strong and I guess it is fitting that Oakenshield is every bit as campy as Aragorn was.

Gorgeous film, regardless. I think I only yawned about a dozen times. I'm worried that I'll spend the entire 2nd episode anxious for the 3rd one.

I enjoyed Radagast's trip to Dol Guldor, what a nice surprise that was.

That white Orc sure looks like Kratos from God of War. It's unnerving.

Gollum has been completely mastered in this one. I was amazed at how improved the character and actor's performance is.

Anyway, the movie opens brilliantly and doesn't lose me for the first hour. Again it's a good movie overall. The much discussed framerate only bothered me during the action sequences.

3.5 stars

My wife wants us to see it on Christmas day. It's costing $42, including the fees for buying tickets online She wants to see it in 2d/old school format, because she doesn't like 3d films. My daughter begged to watch Wreck-it-ralph instead. The seats are reserved, and sort of on the right hand side, so I told the kids whoever did the most chores could sit in the "good" seat that's further toward the center. We'll see how it goes. We're letting grandpa stay home.

craniac wrote: My wife wants us to see it on Christmas day. It's costing $42, including the fees for buying tickets online She wants to see it in 2d/old school format, because she doesn't like 3d films. My daughter begged to watch Wreck-it-ralph instead. The seats are reserved, and sort of on the right hand side, so I told the kids whoever did the most chores could sit in the "good" seat that's further toward the center. We'll see how it goes. We're letting grandpa stay home.

My girlfriend and I are going to see The Hobbit sometime this week. I'm getting very curious, because of so many conflicting reviews and descriptions by friends.

It was bugging me so much (how I couldn't follow anything in the action sequences) that I rewatched Two Towers and Return of the King yesterday (to prove to my wife that I wasn't crazy). I think I was right. In Return of the King, the whole battle of Minas Tirith the action is completely insane. Like stuff is going on everywhere. i had NO problem following the action. Like during the charge of the Rohirrm(sp?), I could clearly see orcs getting trampled, riders getting thrown, etc. During the mumak charge, I could again clearly see which riders were in trouble and which were surviving.

In THE HOBBIT, I couldn't follow a dang thing. Was it the frame rate? Or was there less detail in the action sequences and they sort of just all fudge together?

Anyway, something in LOTR was working better on that front.

I think it may have been the frame rate. It sort of felt like one of those 20s movies where everything is moving just a bit too fast to be real. That plus the action scene you're talking about takes place in an underground maze, which can be a bit hard to follow to begin with.

yeah but in Fellowship in Moria I could clearly follow everybody and I was watching the Aragorn, Gandalf and everyone fighting orcs. Even the cave troll wasn't breaking suspension of disbelief. But in Hobbit, I was clearly watching a CGI extravaganza the entire time in the mines. It didn't feel or look real.

I watched it in 2D and had no problem following the action, Barney. Did you watch it in 3D hi-def?

nah 2D. I was told to avoid the 3D.

You could tell what was happening underground? Man, it was a big orange mess to me

Well, we took the kids and saw it yesterday, on Christmas day. I'd been reading reviews complaining about the length and tediousness. We saw the vanilla version--no high frame rates, no 3d, and just a regular screen packed with Christmas day Tolkein fans.

I liked it and didn't feel let down, other than having to wait TWO YEARS for the rest of it. I agree that it's not LOTR, and it's a bit video-gamey, but we all really enjoyed it, for what it was. For means of comparison, my favorite movie this year was Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. I just liked The Hobbit for what it was. My sixteen-year-old actually fell asleep for 10 minutes.