Chen G.
Mithlond
Feb 23 2019, 2:44pm
Views: 24502
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So I've rewatched this film, too
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which I didn't do in a long, long while; and I shall watch the other two before long. I've made it into something of a roadshow, with suites of Howard Shore's score in between the pair of blurays, exit music after the credits, etcetra.
This film is gorgeous. It looks like it was shot on 65mm like an old epic, and I couldn't think of a more appropriate format for Middle Earth. Jackson uses more long takes than in The Lord of the Rings, which is a great choice to help "sell" the setting.
I like that this particular film is the lighter of the six, physical humour and all. It gives it a unique flavour, and allows for escalation to occur in the next entries, as the story turns much, much darker and more confronting.
The opening prologue does a similar function to that of The Fellowship of the Ring: its an action-opening (like a James Bond or Indiana Jones film) to "hook" us into the film. What makes the prologue such a unique "Peter Jackson device is that it also sets the stakes and the antagonist (Sauron in The Lord of the Rings, Smaug here). But, unlike Fellowship, here we also meet our protagonist for the trilogy: Thorin.
In a world of tentpole franchises rehashing The Hero's Journey narrative (Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Lord of the Rings, Marvel, The Dark Knight), it was really refreshing to see this trilogy focusing on a tragic character, and this first film was crucial to setting up his positive attributes before he spirals down. Here, he's heroic, he puts himself in danger, and while he doesn't care for Bilbo, he risks himself numerous times to save him.
Watching it as if it were a roadshow helps alleviate the pacing issues, but they're nonetheless present. The plot progression is kind of staggared: it only ever really picks up (fortunately, gloriously so!) once the Dwarves leave Rivendell. The entire first half of the journey, when there isn't a present antagonist and the objective (Erebor) is too remote, should have been raced through much more quickly.
***1/2 out of *****
(This post was edited by Chen G. on Feb 23 2019, 2:44pm)
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