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Hobbit Forming
Dec. 18th, 2012 11:59 pmOkay, so for the most part I'm avoiding negative reviews because, frankly, I don't care. But I would like to offer this for the record and then get on with my life.
I'm incredibly amused at the people who are complaining about the pacing and the filler and the "stretching of one book into three movies". It's like they're not paying attention, and haven't been paying attention since 2001. They're all "Man, it's too bad this Peter Jackson guy has never made a movie before and therefore we have no idea what to expect from him! I was expecting something totally different from this unknown dude. And I got a slightly odd movie." When, in fact, we got exactly the same sort of thing we got from LotR. WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED, MOVIE-GOERS? Yes, the pacing is kind of weird. But it's not one movie, and it shouldn't be written as such. It's not a flaw. It's the genre.
And, for the last time, it's NOT ONE BOOK. It's a major moment in history that Bilbo misses entirely because he's busy being the distraction. I can't even begin to tell you the number of times in THE HOBBIT that Gandalf says something like "Oh, yeah, I've got this thing to do. Be back later. Um, if I survive." And, yes, that's not part of THE HOBBIT, but that's only because Bilbo is very much inside his own head (for a book that's written in 3rd person, it has a very 1st person focus). Again, I invite complainants to PAY ATTENTION.
What really sells it for me is that the fans are happy. I have yet to come across a post or comment from my LotR peeps that's super negative. It's not like that time George Lucas made us cry. So yes: it's a big, convoluted, kind of random, sort of directionless story. And it's not over.
And that's exactly how it is supposed to be.
In related news, I could have gone to the 10:15 Cheap Tuesday screening, but opted to come home and sleep (by which I mean "read") instead. I'm a little annoyed with myself, but I'll probably be happier about it tomorrow morning.
I'm incredibly amused at the people who are complaining about the pacing and the filler and the "stretching of one book into three movies". It's like they're not paying attention, and haven't been paying attention since 2001. They're all "Man, it's too bad this Peter Jackson guy has never made a movie before and therefore we have no idea what to expect from him! I was expecting something totally different from this unknown dude. And I got a slightly odd movie." When, in fact, we got exactly the same sort of thing we got from LotR. WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED, MOVIE-GOERS? Yes, the pacing is kind of weird. But it's not one movie, and it shouldn't be written as such. It's not a flaw. It's the genre.
And, for the last time, it's NOT ONE BOOK. It's a major moment in history that Bilbo misses entirely because he's busy being the distraction. I can't even begin to tell you the number of times in THE HOBBIT that Gandalf says something like "Oh, yeah, I've got this thing to do. Be back later. Um, if I survive." And, yes, that's not part of THE HOBBIT, but that's only because Bilbo is very much inside his own head (for a book that's written in 3rd person, it has a very 1st person focus). Again, I invite complainants to PAY ATTENTION.
What really sells it for me is that the fans are happy. I have yet to come across a post or comment from my LotR peeps that's super negative. It's not like that time George Lucas made us cry. So yes: it's a big, convoluted, kind of random, sort of directionless story. And it's not over.
And that's exactly how it is supposed to be.
In related news, I could have gone to the 10:15 Cheap Tuesday screening, but opted to come home and sleep (by which I mean "read") instead. I'm a little annoyed with myself, but I'll probably be happier about it tomorrow morning.
