Thirteen dwarves too many to remember?
By Ronahn Clarke
Here’s hoping you’ve seen the latest Hobbit movie, or are planning on doing so before it leaves theaters. The newest movie features spectacular animation (in the form of a thrilling dragon), dark forests filled with terrifying spiders, and plenty of adventure.
Overall, The Desolation of Smaug (henceforth referred to as DoS) was a fulfilling middle installment to the series. However, while the 161 minute film delivers plenty of action, it has been criticized for deviating from Tolkien’s book.
The Hobbit movies have had to live up to enormous expectations so far, given the success of The Lord of the Rings.
When viewing the film, it’s helpful to remember that it was never intended to be a continuation of The Lord of the Rings; Tolkien’s book was intended for a younger audience, and this comes across in the movies.
This film focuses less on internal conflicts and morals, but delivers a satisfying story of an epic quest. In this regard, it’s comparable to the Harry Potter movies.
The film has a better start than the previous installment; the introduction is kept brief, and the interesting storyline begins shortly after the title is displayed.
Bilbo, our protagonist, Gandalf, and the dwarves find themselves being chased out of the mountains by orcs. They take refuge in the house of a skin-changer, Beorn, who remarks that only his hate for orcs outweighs his hate for dwarves. Aided by Beorn, the group presses onward to Murkwood, where most of the story lies.
Here, at the entrance to the frightening forest, Gandalf is torn from the group. He leaves to investigate something that, to be honest, wasn’t very clear. As a warning, the movie ends with a cliffhanger (possibly as a result of it’s covering merely five chapters of the book). The plot, while engaging, has no solid conclusion, but promises one in the final movie.
The majority of criticism towards the film regards a lack of depth to the plot. English teachers across the nation will proclaim a paper needs three pieces: a beginning, a middle, and an end. This movie, due to the previously mentioned five chapters being the only ones covered, is dependent upon its viewers to have watched the first film (or, at least, read the book).
As Tolkien did not likely intend for the book to be divided and conquered by director Peter Jackson, DoS would not do well as an independent movie. It’s evident there was an attempt to strengthen the plot of the movie by introducing new events and characters; Legolas, a character from The Lord of the Rings who was never mentioned in the Hobbit book, is given a tremendous amount of screen time.
Instead of the dark, menacing elves in the book, the elves of Mirkwood appear civilized and caring. More detail is given to them, and Jackson even ventures into a love story between two of the Elves.
Neither The Lord of the Rings nor The Hobbit books were perfectly fit for movies; LotR due to its enormity, and The Hobbit due to the enormity of its characters. None of the characters themselves are large (with the exception of Smaug, of course), but the multitude of them, along with a lack of diversity, makes the story hard to follow.
Though each of the 13 dwarves has a name, attempting to associate it with the proper dwarf is futile. The characters are not individually important enough to warrant memory of their names either. While this is more a trait of the book than the movie, it makes for a difficult-to-follow film.
Nevertheless, the actors give spectacular performances; Martin Freedman effectively plays the timid, determined Bilbo, Ian McKellen (as always) plays Gandalf, and Orlando Bloom returns as Legolas.
I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoyed the previous installment, and anyone looking for a solid adventure.
Here’s hoping you’ve seen the latest Hobbit movie, or are planning on doing so before it leaves theaters. The newest movie features spectacular animation (in the form of a thrilling dragon), dark forests filled with terrifying spiders, and plenty of adventure.
Overall, The Desolation of Smaug (henceforth referred to as DoS) was a fulfilling middle installment to the series. However, while the 161 minute film delivers plenty of action, it has been criticized for deviating from Tolkien’s book.
The Hobbit movies have had to live up to enormous expectations so far, given the success of The Lord of the Rings.
When viewing the film, it’s helpful to remember that it was never intended to be a continuation of The Lord of the Rings; Tolkien’s book was intended for a younger audience, and this comes across in the movies.
This film focuses less on internal conflicts and morals, but delivers a satisfying story of an epic quest. In this regard, it’s comparable to the Harry Potter movies.
The film has a better start than the previous installment; the introduction is kept brief, and the interesting storyline begins shortly after the title is displayed.
Bilbo, our protagonist, Gandalf, and the dwarves find themselves being chased out of the mountains by orcs. They take refuge in the house of a skin-changer, Beorn, who remarks that only his hate for orcs outweighs his hate for dwarves. Aided by Beorn, the group presses onward to Murkwood, where most of the story lies.
Here, at the entrance to the frightening forest, Gandalf is torn from the group. He leaves to investigate something that, to be honest, wasn’t very clear. As a warning, the movie ends with a cliffhanger (possibly as a result of it’s covering merely five chapters of the book). The plot, while engaging, has no solid conclusion, but promises one in the final movie.
The majority of criticism towards the film regards a lack of depth to the plot. English teachers across the nation will proclaim a paper needs three pieces: a beginning, a middle, and an end. This movie, due to the previously mentioned five chapters being the only ones covered, is dependent upon its viewers to have watched the first film (or, at least, read the book).
As Tolkien did not likely intend for the book to be divided and conquered by director Peter Jackson, DoS would not do well as an independent movie. It’s evident there was an attempt to strengthen the plot of the movie by introducing new events and characters; Legolas, a character from The Lord of the Rings who was never mentioned in the Hobbit book, is given a tremendous amount of screen time.
Instead of the dark, menacing elves in the book, the elves of Mirkwood appear civilized and caring. More detail is given to them, and Jackson even ventures into a love story between two of the Elves.
Neither The Lord of the Rings nor The Hobbit books were perfectly fit for movies; LotR due to its enormity, and The Hobbit due to the enormity of its characters. None of the characters themselves are large (with the exception of Smaug, of course), but the multitude of them, along with a lack of diversity, makes the story hard to follow.
Though each of the 13 dwarves has a name, attempting to associate it with the proper dwarf is futile. The characters are not individually important enough to warrant memory of their names either. While this is more a trait of the book than the movie, it makes for a difficult-to-follow film.
Nevertheless, the actors give spectacular performances; Martin Freedman effectively plays the timid, determined Bilbo, Ian McKellen (as always) plays Gandalf, and Orlando Bloom returns as Legolas.
I would recommend this movie to anyone who enjoyed the previous installment, and anyone looking for a solid adventure.
