Indeed, I did not miss the annual Hobbit appointment to better switch off to 2014.
So, for the fan base here is the deal;
if you thought THE HOBBIT AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY was too slow or too childish, then you will recover from this thanks to this one.
If you think you will reconnect with the previous THE LORD OF THE RING trilogy world then, you will some times with slight touches.
And if you like to think this movie has is own identity, actually, it has.
First of all, I liked the movie because this Tolkien/ Peter Jackson material make me discover a complex and rich Epic Fantasy world all along my childhood so, as a result I am a nostalgic fan.
And Peter Jackson is extremely talented when it’s about to use nostalgic ways to better connect with the movie. You will enjoy the several hints and humorist twists. I am the kind of audience really sensible of those “special for fans” attentions.
Of course the codes are there, you don’t feel disoriented and you are more and more attached to Bilbo character. Therefore, I will focus on the specific elements that differentiate this movie from the others.
First, the ACTION is incredibly shot, like you are really into it. Thanks very much Legolas and his Elfe crew that make all possible and amazingly cool! As in a roller coster ride, you enjoy a 360 degrees camera shot that makes you feel at the closest of the bows, the axes, the magical gear and the crazy Legolas jumps and combo moves…
Then, what will definitely makes this movie special from the other is the Dragon scene. Since I was completely frustrated to not see the beast in the first one, I though “Oh gosh! Didn’t they have enough money to make special effect?(indeed the genre suffers this kind of situation as you can remember the end of second season of Games of Thrones). Well done Peter Jackson, as a true fan, the more I was waiting the more my expectations were growing; and that worths it!
The mix of the cave, the gold and the fear you share with Bilbo, makes this scene as memorable as exciting. Actually, this dragon reminds me the design of the Disney one in Sleeping Beauty (maybe revealed in Maleficient coming soon) but this time, much more real and in 3D.
Finally, since it is the second part of the trilogy, new characters are coming up, and former one have more reliefs and others start to make complete sense (like Gandalf in the dark tower). Bilbo, played by Martin Freeman, brings the more interesting performance with a nice twist between a less naive and still humorous clever character which matches perfectly with the famous British daring and phlegm.
However, I have to raise two aspects that I think, have to be improved for the last one.
In the first hand, I kinda felt left behind, when at the end on the screening, I realized there were no specific music theme I remembered from the movie expect maybe “I see fire” by Ed Sheeran but it’s the credit song. I mean, what brings magic of this franchise and what I prefer, it is the great work and creativity Howard Shore puts on each movie. Here, I couldn’t find these magnificent musics with touching vocal and different inspiration themes. I didn’t connect with the music as usual that would have make me buy the music right away to listen to it over and over. This is kinda paradoxical when the dwarfs song FAR OVER THE MISTY MOUNTAINS COLD of the first one was the main element of the marketing teasing campaign.
In the other hand, as, I admit, I spent my teenage time admire Legolas character, please Peter, remove his fluorescent lents. It doesn’t look serious anymore! And his character changed so much he is more like a brat than the wise/cool elf that we knew in the Lord of rings movies, maybe his transformation will be explained in the third hobbit movie
And if you may ask, because I am a fan, I am not completely satisfied but I am far aways of being bore. So yes, it’s a MUST WATCH!
