Battle of the Five Armies is a soulless end to the flawed Hobbit trilogy

Ars' resident Tolkien nerd on Peter Jackson's problematic final chapter.

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[Doc Spector]

One of the complaints about the first set of films was just how much had to be left out because there were only about 10 hours of screen time.

The Hobbit was a simpler book, both in scope and in execution... so they enhanced details that Tolkien (or his editors) thought we could do without. Like a lot of people, I reacted to the news with some surprise... ("Really? THREE movies???") but I don't think this is the main problem at work here.

The real problem is that Mr. Jackson gave us again exactly what we liked so much the first time around, and we're not impressed this time like we were when it was new. Giant, CGI armies were impressive the first time around. Not so much the second. The incredible, panoramic landscapes of "Middle-Earth" were fabulous the first time around, but now... seen it. Elaborately staged sword-and-archery battle? Yawn.

EVERY series that runs on too long starts to have this problem...and many, if not most, ultimately fail. Sticking with giant, $200 million blockbusters, look at how the Matrix trailed off. Pirates of the Caribbean. Indiana Jones. The Batman films that followed Burton. Sometimes, they falter and gain their footing again... The X-Men films, the Bond films (Moonraker? SERIOUSLY?)

 

[Doc Spector]

sephula[/url]":2erf3avm]

Also, who would ever seriously believe that a tall, thin, and radiant young Elf Princess would find herself falling head over heals for a short, fat, and smelly Dwarf soldier-man? It was sooo "Romeo and Juliet" meets "Beauty and The Beast". Give me a friggin break! In real-life, that NEVER HAPPENS!

Tell that to Billy Joel.

 

[Doc Spector]

Put me down as someone who enjoyed the movies. Yes, I know they're not the same as the sacred texts. Don't care. Yes, expanding The Hobbit into 3 films really feels like a cash grab. Don't care.

I have the same question for Jackson as I had for Tolkien... where are the Dwarf's rings? This seems like the sort of situation where you might bring one or two. Elrond, Galadriel, and Mithrandir had the three Elven rings, Bilbo had the one Ring, and the Nazgul had the Nine. Why didn't any of the Seven show up?

 

[Doc Spector]

The only flaw I really noted was Thranduil sending Legolas off to find Aragorn about 30 years before he's born. Oops.

 

[Doc Spector]

Ilfring[/url]":1seozt7h]A-men. Despite the lengthy run time, there was no story, just snatches of this and that strung together. Important story lines reduced to 5 minutes. Non-existent story lines paraded for days and then suddenly ended. I could go on, but recalling the flaws is dispiriting. TBoFA was overall, dissatisfying and disappointing. I really want to like it but....
I too would love to see a "de-extended" version that contained only the Hobbit proper, but I don't think there is enough material in those 8-odd hours to do so. :/


Edit: I just went back and read Snazster's post and had to say that I agree completely

You can always go back to the animated version. Peter Jackson didn't add anything to THAT.

 

[Doc Spector]

Finally, if this trilogy was made first, Lord of the Rings might not have been made, and if it was, it would have had to rely much more heavily on word of mouth and reviewers getting the word out that it was far, far better than the Hobbit.

If the Hobbit films were made first, LOTR would have absolutely been made. What would be different is that the Hobbit wouldn't have been stretched to three films if they were first.

Then the LOTR movies would have come out, and everybody would be complaining that they were just more of the same. I mean, if you've seen one huge battle scene with thousands of orcs fighting elves and humans, you've seen them all, right? It was awesome the first time, but kind of "meh" the second time (in the prologue to Fellowship) and downright boring after that (Return).

All this discontent is just a sign that people have had pretty much all the Tolkien epics they want, thank you. Find us a next thing, please.