In today's random thoughts,
Dec. 28th, 2014 06:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
schneefinkI went with friends to watch "The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies" today.
I didn't like it very much. Or perhaps more accurately, I enjoyed watching the movie, mostly because of the visuals, but it wasn't as good as I expected or hoped and I disliked several things they did.
Things that bugged me:
- They made Tauriel a damsel in distress, I hated that. She goes to rescue Kili, Kili has to rescue her and dies in the process, then Legolas has to save her, and then we see her crying over Kili's corpse. Why couldn't she kill the orc that killed Kili? That would have been so much better! She didn't accomplish anything in this movie. Even her confrontation with Thranduil: it could have been about the value of mortal lives, it could have been great, but instead it was about Tauriel's crush, and she had to be rescued again.
- Some of the action scenes were so over the top they were ridiculous. Like Legolas fight with Bolg the orc, the running up the falling stones was like out of a video game and then the fancy spinning moves to finish him off, too much. And why did Thorin and Azog have to fight on the ice?, it just made Thorin look a bit silly.
- They're having big problems fighting off the first orc army. Then there's the second orc army from Gundabad, so they're in deep trouble. Except suddenly everything's all right? Azog and Bolg die (not that anyone saw), the eagles come, and just like that they defeat two armies?
- Why Alfrid? We got that he's a slimy piece of shit, he just kept being annoying for no reason. Was it supposed to be a "not everyone gets a redemption arc"-surprise? Completely unnecessary. (Is he related to Grima Wormtongue?)
- Yes, they have the women of Laketown join the men in fighting the orcs! Why wouldn't you show that, at least a little bit?
- The appearance of the elf army and their willingness to go to war over some jewellery was pretty sudden and should have been set up better.
- Kili, Fili, and Thorin, and Azog and Bolg are dead, and suddenly the battle is over. What's happening now? Who "gets" the mountain? Sure, most of the problem was Thorin's stubbornness and that's resolved with him being dead, but you could at least give me a glimpse of cautious peace.
- (I still don't really like the design of the Arkenstone. In my mind it was a more diamond-like jewel.)
Things I liked:
- Thorin's gold sickness. It was almost a bit too dramatic at times, with the constant head-down-looking-up and the growling voice, but otherwise I thought it was well done, including his company trying to appeal to him and his vision in the end.
- Bilbo. He was great.
- Dol Guldur, to my slight surprise. I could have done with less Galadriel falling down looking exhausted, and less green in the face when she banished Sauron, but she was badass and the whole scene was cool.
- Smaug looked absolutely terrifying attacking Laketown. Though while I get that they had to make the attack a bit longer, I thought Bard using his son to shoot the arrow was a bit much.
- Some very nice visuals. Erebor was almost too huge, the distances between places seemed surprisingly big, but the elf and dwarf armies looked great, and the battle goats were amazing. I want one.
So that was it! In all likelihood the last of the Middle-Earth movies. I'm not too broken up about it. It was nice while it lasted, but the LotR movies were imo clearly better.
The plan is that I'm leaving with my parents tomorrow morning to visit relatives and for my brother to join us later. Unfortunately he got sick today, so I might stay with him for a day or two longer.
I'm taking my laptop, but I doubt there'll be wifi. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe that'll make me write. And maybe I'll get around to doing another Yuletide rec post before reveals.
In other news, the Penguins have accumulated even more injuries, and that Sidney Crosby is in a scoring slump just makes the problem more obvious. Ugh. Olli is not out for the season, but now Hornqvist is out for a while and we already had a bad top 6 problem. Fortunately they have enough points so far that they don't need to worry about reaching the playoffs anytime soon.
I didn't like it very much. Or perhaps more accurately, I enjoyed watching the movie, mostly because of the visuals, but it wasn't as good as I expected or hoped and I disliked several things they did.
Things that bugged me:
- They made Tauriel a damsel in distress, I hated that. She goes to rescue Kili, Kili has to rescue her and dies in the process, then Legolas has to save her, and then we see her crying over Kili's corpse. Why couldn't she kill the orc that killed Kili? That would have been so much better! She didn't accomplish anything in this movie. Even her confrontation with Thranduil: it could have been about the value of mortal lives, it could have been great, but instead it was about Tauriel's crush, and she had to be rescued again.
- Some of the action scenes were so over the top they were ridiculous. Like Legolas fight with Bolg the orc, the running up the falling stones was like out of a video game and then the fancy spinning moves to finish him off, too much. And why did Thorin and Azog have to fight on the ice?, it just made Thorin look a bit silly.
- They're having big problems fighting off the first orc army. Then there's the second orc army from Gundabad, so they're in deep trouble. Except suddenly everything's all right? Azog and Bolg die (not that anyone saw), the eagles come, and just like that they defeat two armies?
- Why Alfrid? We got that he's a slimy piece of shit, he just kept being annoying for no reason. Was it supposed to be a "not everyone gets a redemption arc"-surprise? Completely unnecessary. (Is he related to Grima Wormtongue?)
- Yes, they have the women of Laketown join the men in fighting the orcs! Why wouldn't you show that, at least a little bit?
- The appearance of the elf army and their willingness to go to war over some jewellery was pretty sudden and should have been set up better.
- Kili, Fili, and Thorin, and Azog and Bolg are dead, and suddenly the battle is over. What's happening now? Who "gets" the mountain? Sure, most of the problem was Thorin's stubbornness and that's resolved with him being dead, but you could at least give me a glimpse of cautious peace.
- (I still don't really like the design of the Arkenstone. In my mind it was a more diamond-like jewel.)
Things I liked:
- Thorin's gold sickness. It was almost a bit too dramatic at times, with the constant head-down-looking-up and the growling voice, but otherwise I thought it was well done, including his company trying to appeal to him and his vision in the end.
- Bilbo. He was great.
- Dol Guldur, to my slight surprise. I could have done with less Galadriel falling down looking exhausted, and less green in the face when she banished Sauron, but she was badass and the whole scene was cool.
- Smaug looked absolutely terrifying attacking Laketown. Though while I get that they had to make the attack a bit longer, I thought Bard using his son to shoot the arrow was a bit much.
- Some very nice visuals. Erebor was almost too huge, the distances between places seemed surprisingly big, but the elf and dwarf armies looked great, and the battle goats were amazing. I want one.
So that was it! In all likelihood the last of the Middle-Earth movies. I'm not too broken up about it. It was nice while it lasted, but the LotR movies were imo clearly better.
The plan is that I'm leaving with my parents tomorrow morning to visit relatives and for my brother to join us later. Unfortunately he got sick today, so I might stay with him for a day or two longer.
I'm taking my laptop, but I doubt there'll be wifi. Maybe that's a good thing, maybe that'll make me write. And maybe I'll get around to doing another Yuletide rec post before reveals.
In other news, the Penguins have accumulated even more injuries, and that Sidney Crosby is in a scoring slump just makes the problem more obvious. Ugh. Olli is not out for the season, but now Hornqvist is out for a while and we already had a bad top 6 problem. Fortunately they have enough points so far that they don't need to worry about reaching the playoffs anytime soon.
