Monday, December 16, 2013

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Peter Jackson, 2013)
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Rating: Q=7, P=7 / Obsession
Scale 1=4, Scale 2=3, Scale 3=3, Scale 4=4

Fantasy, Adventure, Action, Based on Book
 
I was so pleased with this second installment of The Hobbit. More narrative, more character development, more detail... I was particularly impressed with how the higher resolution and frame-rate made the film feel more intimate. At first I was jarred--it took me a while to get used to the movement of the camera--but soon it was like the characters and world was right outside a window.

Surprises came with an excellent performance by Luke Evans as Bard and more elements/characters of the Lord of the Rings stories to make a cohesive epic. This seems to be a trend in Hollywood. I think people want movies to be more like long TV show episodes. And why not? More time with a fantasy world. This one makes me pretty happy.
 
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