agen_kolar
Super Freak
Okay, I'm going to be long-winded but it's difficult to be concise on such a topic. I thought it was a satisfying end to an otherwise mediocre trilogy. Spoilers below!
First, let's talk about the bad:
The CGI. The trolls and many of the orcs were so blatantly CGI it's not even funny. I was taken out of every moment that it was noticeable, which was often. Azog was the biggest offender, just as he was in the previous two films. He gets lots of close ups and looks straight out of a good video game, which unfortunately does not work in a feature film. Bolg, on the other hand, was much more realistic in many of his scenes, but still obviously a CGI creation.
The creature designs. Who approved these things? A troll with one tiny arm and one huge arm? A troll on stilts with chains through its eyes? A pot-bellied, baby-faced troll? I could go on and on. These were just terrible.
Worms and wings. Where have giant worms been the whole series, and how did Azog get them to do his bidding? Why were the bats necessary? Just totally ridiculous in every way, in my opinion.
The weird:
Dain. He was definitely CGI, or at least airbrushed to hell, anytime he had a helmet on, and I have no idea as to why. I'm curious to see if any interviews or behind the scenes footage will reveal why this was done. There were definitely times when Dain was not CGI, though they seemed far fewer.
Dol Galadriel? The battle at Dol Guldur was just...weird for me. I don't know how I feel about it yet. For one, I do feel it a bit unnecessary since none of the three members of the White Council appeared thereafter. I understand that Gandalf needed to be freed, but I feel like this could've been done in other ways. However, I love Cate Blanchett, so I'm always happy to have her onscreen as Galadriel. Unfortunately her brief turn to the dark side, if you could call it that, looked even more odd than it did in the first LOTR film. I would have preferred them to stick closer to the original look than the swamp woman they turned her into for the last Hobbit film. I also had trouble understanding her speech over the sound effects.
Aflrid. I thought there might be some redemption in Alfrid's character considering how he was ultimately treated by the Lake-Town Master, but I guess it's only natural that he not know how to act other than how he did - a greedy coward. Considering the amount of screen time he had, he should've been credited among the main cast.
The last battle. The eagles, Radagast, and Beorn seemingly did nothing, at least nothing much on screen. We see them enter the fray only to cut away and not show them again. I expect more for the extended edition.
The good:
The destruction of Lake-Town. Smaug's hell unleashed on Lake-Town was well done. His death was portrayed very much like I would expect a dragon who was just shot through the heart - he freaked out momentarily, trying to escape by any means possible, climbing higher and higher. His fall upon the Master was magnificent.
Kili and Tauriel. This hotly debated love story never bothered me, and in the end I felt true sorrow for Tauriel. There was a bit of redemption for Thranduil in their final scene together, too, especially after how nasty he'd just been to the she-elf.
Bilbo Baggins. Martin Freeman was wonderful, as always. Enough said. Seeing Ian Holm as Bilbo at the end was really great, too.
The Elven King. Say what you want about Legolas being in these films, but his father's presence was fantastic. Thranduil is cold-hearted and stiff, but beautiful to behold and elegant in every sense of the term. Well done, Lee Pace.
I feel like I went on about the bad, but really I enjoyed the film overall. I would eventually love to cut the movies down to two films, but who knows if I'll ever have the time to do that. We'll see.
First, let's talk about the bad:
The CGI. The trolls and many of the orcs were so blatantly CGI it's not even funny. I was taken out of every moment that it was noticeable, which was often. Azog was the biggest offender, just as he was in the previous two films. He gets lots of close ups and looks straight out of a good video game, which unfortunately does not work in a feature film. Bolg, on the other hand, was much more realistic in many of his scenes, but still obviously a CGI creation.
The creature designs. Who approved these things? A troll with one tiny arm and one huge arm? A troll on stilts with chains through its eyes? A pot-bellied, baby-faced troll? I could go on and on. These were just terrible.
Worms and wings. Where have giant worms been the whole series, and how did Azog get them to do his bidding? Why were the bats necessary? Just totally ridiculous in every way, in my opinion.
The weird:
Dain. He was definitely CGI, or at least airbrushed to hell, anytime he had a helmet on, and I have no idea as to why. I'm curious to see if any interviews or behind the scenes footage will reveal why this was done. There were definitely times when Dain was not CGI, though they seemed far fewer.
Dol Galadriel? The battle at Dol Guldur was just...weird for me. I don't know how I feel about it yet. For one, I do feel it a bit unnecessary since none of the three members of the White Council appeared thereafter. I understand that Gandalf needed to be freed, but I feel like this could've been done in other ways. However, I love Cate Blanchett, so I'm always happy to have her onscreen as Galadriel. Unfortunately her brief turn to the dark side, if you could call it that, looked even more odd than it did in the first LOTR film. I would have preferred them to stick closer to the original look than the swamp woman they turned her into for the last Hobbit film. I also had trouble understanding her speech over the sound effects.
Aflrid. I thought there might be some redemption in Alfrid's character considering how he was ultimately treated by the Lake-Town Master, but I guess it's only natural that he not know how to act other than how he did - a greedy coward. Considering the amount of screen time he had, he should've been credited among the main cast.
The last battle. The eagles, Radagast, and Beorn seemingly did nothing, at least nothing much on screen. We see them enter the fray only to cut away and not show them again. I expect more for the extended edition.
The good:
The destruction of Lake-Town. Smaug's hell unleashed on Lake-Town was well done. His death was portrayed very much like I would expect a dragon who was just shot through the heart - he freaked out momentarily, trying to escape by any means possible, climbing higher and higher. His fall upon the Master was magnificent.
Kili and Tauriel. This hotly debated love story never bothered me, and in the end I felt true sorrow for Tauriel. There was a bit of redemption for Thranduil in their final scene together, too, especially after how nasty he'd just been to the she-elf.
Bilbo Baggins. Martin Freeman was wonderful, as always. Enough said. Seeing Ian Holm as Bilbo at the end was really great, too.
The Elven King. Say what you want about Legolas being in these films, but his father's presence was fantastic. Thranduil is cold-hearted and stiff, but beautiful to behold and elegant in every sense of the term. Well done, Lee Pace.
I feel like I went on about the bad, but really I enjoyed the film overall. I would eventually love to cut the movies down to two films, but who knows if I'll ever have the time to do that. We'll see.
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