Three Times The Hobbit?

[Kuruharan]

Speaking of reviews...

This is a rather childish one.

The opening paragraph in particular was a doozie.

"I spent a fair amount of time during Peter Jackson’s latest installment in his Tolkien franchise comparing it to the Harry Potter movies, thinking how savvy J.K. Rowling’s approach to magic has been, how successful in the broadest way those films are."

Rowling's approach to magic was...savvy?

I don't think that word means what the critic thinks it means.

[TheMisfortuneTeller]

Without getting into the narrative aspects of The Hobbit -- that will come later, he says -- Salon critic Andrew O'Hehir focuses on just the technical aspects of HFR/3D in his review, "Why does 'The Hobbit' look so weird?":

http://www.salon.com/2012/12/06/why_...look_so_weird/

I think I'll see the film in standard 2D at 24 frames-per-second. I have enough issues -- namely, inane narrative and CGI bloat -- to deal with already. Simply trying to extract the first third of The Hobbit from Peter Jackson's video-game concept of Middle Earth: Episode I will no doubt prove challenging enough without continuously having to ask myself why this film looks the way it does while trying to remember whatever has happened to Bilbo Baggins, ostensibly the subject of interest in this film.

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

Speaking of reviews...

This is a rather childish one.

The opening paragraph in particular was a doozie.

"I spent a fair amount of time during Peter Jackson’s latest installment in his Tolkien franchise comparing it to the Harry Potter movies, thinking how savvy J.K. Rowling’s approach to magic has been, how successful in the broadest way those films are."

Rowling's approach to magic was...savvy?

I don't think that word means what the critic thinks it means.

Aside from the Inigo Montoya quote, yes, teenagers waving about twigs and shouting in mangled Latinate is savvy, meaning Professor Mandingus Savvy, the first headmaster of Hogwarts, who initiated the whole prepubescent twig-waving, Latin-shouting fad among school-age witches. Voldemort turned him into a newt, but he got better.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Mr88

A couple of them seemed more of a rant against the faster frame speed, more than the actual film. But the criticisms about the length "You can read book out loud quicker than the time it will take to watch all three films" or Jackson's apparent refusal to understand trimming and editting films are a part of wearing the director pants are undoubtedly spot on.

Well... I 'd prefer to say that, in the case of this particular film, they're *probably* spot on. That's sort of the point I'm making: none of these fanbrats have seen the film yet, any more than we have, and yet they've already decided it "must" be a flawless masterpiece, such that no valid criticism is even possible.

As for the frame rate issue, and whether that should be a factor... hmmn, I don't know. Thing is, it *was* made quite a selling point.

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Morthoron

Aside from the Inigo Montoya quote

Inigo: Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya. You ruined my favorite fantasy setting! Prepare to die!

[Bêthberry]

A review from TORn about the regular film (24 fps) screening without the technical gewgaws.

Warning, spoilers!

Happy with Hobbit

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

A review from TORn about the regular film (24 fps) screening without the technical gewgaws.

Warning, spoilers!

Happy with Hobbit

Hmmm...it's not so much a review as it is a divine recapitulation.

But aside from the flattering characterization of the movie (I, myself, was almost moved to tears ), one does pick up that it takes a damn long time for Bilbo and the Dwarves to get going on their adventure, which is consistent with many reviews I've read that state the movie doesn't really pick up speed until Bilbo meets Gollum.

And even with superfluous subplots, the first movie ends at the Carrock on the verge of Mirkwood; so one can easily see that two more movies would not be necessary in telling the remainder of the story. Which presupposes, of course, that the final two movies will center on the original plot of The Hobbit at all.

This leads me to believe that Guillermo del Toro's original scripting of a two-movie version of The Hobbit would have eliminated much of the extraneous flab that hangs like jowls off the head of a hog, and would be best served as additional fodder on an extended edition blu-ray.

[SonofUgluk]

New review in from The Telegraph , and it's not good , I will however make up my own mind in a week or so

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/f...ie-review.html

[Kuruharan]

Like butter that has been scraped over too much bread” was how JRR Tolkien described the supernatural world-weariness of Bilbo Baggins in the opening chapter of The Lord of the Rings.

What a great opening line for the review, especially the way it was used.

The stuffing is required because Jackson and Warner Bros have divided Tolkien’s fairly short story into three incredibly long films, which will mean vastly inflated box office revenues at the small cost of artistic worth and entertainment.

Way to go for the jugular! I don't think there is any better way to sum up this mess.

Here, Gandalf has an interminable conversation with Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), Saruman (Christopher Lee) and Elrond (Hugo Weaving), which gets so boring that Bilbo and the dwarves leave without them.

Ah ha ha ha ha!

I have decided I like this critic!

Thus spake Kuruharan.

[Kuruharan]

This is one of the most scathing reviews I have seen yet. The critic pulls no punches and is direct and blunt, even though I completely disagree with his assessment that the LOTR film trilogy was a marvel of cinematic triumph.

[edit] Its...uhh...actually the Atlantic Wire...and I am hoist yet again by the inability to edit headings

[TheLostPilgrim]

I've seen a lot of comparisons with The Phantom Menace...