I definitely see a lot of the same problems with the Hobbit trilogy as I did with the Star Wars prequels. Sadly, I've already lost the will to list all of my numerous grievances, but fortunately I can just copypasta from a little post I made on another forum upon my original viewing of the first Hobbit movie.
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Ah, "The Hobbit"...Most of its problems stem from the fact that the studio decided to extend the book into three movies (and thus having to pad and otherwise clutter up the story with filler). While they will make more money this way, it sabotages any hope for a decent narrative. And for every scene they manage to pull off (Riddles in the Dark), there are two or three total failures (overly silly trolls, rock 'em sock 'em stone giants, etc.). If the movie isn't putting you off with scenes inundated with inane silliness, it's boring you with mindless cgi filler (not to mention the tonal inconsistencies, the destruction of Bilbo's character arc, seemingly endless fan service, etc.)...
It seems to be going the Star Wars prequels route (though not quite as badly)...
In one word: Disappointing.
I think there is a lot of truth to be found in the following parody:
http://www.cracked.com/article_20315_if-hobbit-was-10-times-shorter-100-times-more-honest.html
FADE IN:
INT. IAN HOLM'S HOUSE
IAN HOLM sits down to write a book. Or if you're reading this in 48 FPS, a GIANT IAN-HOLM-SHAPED BLOB OF MAKEUP sits down to write a book.
IAN HOLM (voice-over)
Once upon a time, a city of dwarfs built a completely unsustainable economy based on gathering precious raw materials and then keeping them. To avoid the debt ceiling, they dug deep fiscal cliffs into the earth, until the city was finally conquered by the great and terrible dragon Cleverdick Humphersnatch.
(pause)
Or was it Smaug.
ELIJAH WOOD
(barging in)
HI, UNCLE BILBO! Look, kids, it's me, Frodo!
(waves)
IAN HOLM
Um, yeah, trying to start an epic trilogy here. Did you stop by to do anything useful?
ELIJAH WOOD
Not really, except to position this scene right before the beginning of Fellowship, which means we're about to take nine hours of film to tell a story that you wrote down in about two. Better settle in and get ******* comfy.
IAN HOLM
The hell I will. I'm turning into Martin Freeman.
EXT. HOBBITON - YEARS EARLIER
MARTIN FREEMAN is practicing his puzzled-blinking skills when IAN MCKELLEN arrives.
IAN MCKELLEN
Hello! You may remember me as the old man who does fireworks at birthdays.
MARTIN FREEMAN
(hesitates, frowns)
Yeah, like in Fellowship. So do you just crash parties whenever you need only a handful of XP to level up?
IAN MCKELLEN
Ha ha, of course not. Now prepare yourself, I've come to bring you on a thrilling adventure! Please don't let the fact that I perform 90 percent of this movie on a green screen make you feel like I'm phoning it in.
MARTIN FREEMAN
I decline your offer of adventure. There, all done, movie's over.
IAN announces a PARTY at MARTIN'S HOUSE on his DWARFBOOK PAGE and sets it to PUBLIC, causing the house to be instantly swarmed by DWARF PRINCE RICHARD ARMITAGE and his TRAVELING CAVALCADE of RIDICULOUSLY BEARDED WARRIOR-CALLIGRAPHERS.
MARTIN FREEMAN
Dick move, Ian. Dick move.
IAN MCKELLEN
Lalala, I'm three studios away and I can't hear you.
The DWARFS act rudely and MARTIN stutters an objection. This repeats for roughly ETERNITY until finally IAN MCKELLEN throws a TANTRUM in EXACTLY THE SAME WAY as he did in FELLOWSHIP. It feels CHEAP and CONTRIVED. The AUDIENCE begins to sense a PATTERN developing.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
OK everyone, settle down. Martin, we need your help to steal a jewel from the dragon who took my kingdom. And we must act soon, as there are rumors that the dragon is gone, and others may try to seize our homeland.
MARTIN FREEMAN
(hesitates, frowns)
I'm a bit confused. If the dragon's gone, there's no problem. If we're just stealing a jewel from it, you don't get your kingdom back. And if the plan is to kill it, you don't need me to steal the jewel, instead you need about 3,000 more dwarfs.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
Look, we need your help to sneak past the dragon that we're going to kill anyway that doesn't even exist! Is that so hard to understand?!
MARTIN FREEMAN
(hesitates, frowns)
Well, you did a song about what an uptight ******* I am, so I was going to say no. But then you sang about being really sad, so OK. I'll go with you.
MARTIN takes ONE STEP FORWARD.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
NO, NO ******* WALKING, STOP RIGHT GODDAMN THERE. For YEARS this franchise has taken NO END of **** about the walking. "Waah waah waah, they just walk everywhere, it's all walking, waaaah," in every single goddamn comment thread, every last ******* online forum. Well THAT ENDS NOW. If we're going to travel in THIS movie, it's going to be COOL and AWESOME and NOT AT ALL LEISURELY.
(pause)
Now, choose your pony.
MARTIN FREEMAN
(excitedly)
Ooh, Rainbow Dash, please!
EXT. FOREST
SYLVESTER MCCOY, nobody's favorite DOCTOR WHO, arrives as nobody's favorite wizard, PEDERAST THE BROWN. He demonstrates his wizardly prowess to the audience by having a FACE covered in ****.
SYLVESTER MCCOY
Some nefarious evil has arisen in Mirkwood! I must go warn Ian McKellen while still having **** ALL OVER MY FACE.
EXT. HILLSIDE
MARTIN has a word with GRIZZLED OLD DWARF KEN STOTT.
MARTIN FREEMAN
So what's the deal with Richard Armitage? Besides being our Viggo surrogate, I mean.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
Hm? Is somebody about to relate my epic backstory? I'll go stare nobly into the distance while you do that, don't want to intrude.
KEN STOTT
Right then. Long ago, Richard and some of the dwarfs from the prologue decided to retake the kingdom of Moria. You remember, from the other movies. However, they were thwarted by a computer-generated albino named Manu Bennett, but not before Richard cut off his hand, kind of like what happened to Sauron in the prologue to the other movies.
(smiles)
Don't worry, though, I'm sure he won't show up later in a desperately transparent bid to give this movie its very own big bad.
MARTIN FREEMAN
(hesitates, frowns)
Do the rest of you have backstories?
KEN STOTT
I dunno. Possibly. We're pretty bland actually, I mean three of us are doing double duty as evil trolls.
MARTIN FREEMAN
As what?
EVIL TROLLS
AS US! YOINK!
(grab Martin)
Now listen up, dwarfs, three of whom are also us! If you fight, we'll kill Martin; but if you surrender, we'll eat all of you, including Martin.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
Well that is the stupidest choice ever, no way will we ...
(surrenders)
Goddammit.
The TROLLS commence a display of COMIC BANTER and TROLL TAINT while the AUDIENCE struggles to decide which is more NAUSEATING.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
God, but this sucks. If I wanted to see ugly green monsters make jokes about bodily functions, I'd be watching Shrek.
MARTIN FREEMAN
Time to display the wits and cunning that justify making me the hero of this story!
But instead IAN MCKELLEN shows up in the NICK OF TIME and SAVES EVERYONE, a device that is already BEYOND OLD and isn't even the last time it happens IN THIS MOVIE. They prepare to move on when SYLVESTER MCCOY arrives with his **** FACE.
SYLVESTER MCCOY
Look, Ian, I found this sinister necro-blade in my forest. Also, my face is covered in ****.
IAN MCKELLEN
My word, this could be terribly important. I am in your debt and YOU HAVE **** ALL OVER YOUR GODDAMN FACE.
SYLVESTER MCCOY
Uh-oh, wargs are attacking! Don't worry, I'll distract them and MY ENTIRE ******* FACE IS UTTERLY CRUSTED OVER WITH ******* ****.
**** MCFACE gets on his MAGIC RABBIT SLED and attempts to re-enact RETURN OF THE JEDI.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
Seriously. A ******* rabbit sled?
IAN MCKELLEN
Yeah, it's part of a game we play to see who can **** off more people on the Internet.
MARTIN FREEMAN
(hesitates, frowns)
That is the worst chase sequence I've ever seen. How is it possible for special effects to look less convincing than they did 10 years ago?
INT. RIVENDELL
MARTIN, IAN, RICHARD, KEN, and 10 OTHER CHARACTERS THAT WE HAVE HAD ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO EVEN MENTION THEIR NAMES YET AND GUESS WHAT, WE NEVER WILL, arrive to see HUGO WEAVING.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
Hello, Hugo. It turns out we need your help, because I just realized my entire plan hinges on a map I cannot even ******* read.
HUGO WEAVING
Ah, that's only because you don't have the latest backlit touchscreen RuneReader, as I do. Observe!
RICHARD ARMITAGE
Wow, it shows where the secret door we need is, and that it can only be found during a stupidly long laundry list of circumstances, and guess what, they're all happening now! Thanks, Hugo!
HUGO WEAVING
(to camera)
Yes, it's the RuneReader Glow, only $149.99 at major retailers everywhere. Why not make this Christmas a special one? WE'RE sure as hell failing at it.
INT. RIVENDELL - MYSTICAL COUNCIL ROOM
The COUNCIL OF FAMOUS ACTORS gathers to DISCUSS ****.
CATE BLANCHETT
Welcome, Ian. Did you like how I turned in place, creating a pretty spiral pattern with my crazy long dress? If you missed it, don't worry, I do it in every ******* shot.
IAN MCKELLEN
(gravely)
I have disturbing news. There is a shadowy threat that is manipulating events while remaining unseen.
CHRISTOPHER LEE
So you mean to tell me we're facing some kind of phantom mena-
(pause)
Oh crap. Not again.
HUGO WEAVING
Hold on a moment, Ian. All we have to go on is the word of someone who's been smoking chronic and watching too much late night "Marble Hornets." You really made Christopher Lee fly all the way to New Zealand at his age for this?
CHRISTOPHER LEE
Actually, I filmed my scenes in London, to be composited in later.
IAN MCKELLEN
Thus ruining my only chance at having one scene where I didn't have to act at tennis balls on a stick. Thanks, dickhole.
CATE BLANCHETT
Well, although we've all run out of information, I think we should discuss this further. In fact, I'll use my telepathic powers so that we can have TWO of the most excruciatingly boring conversations ever filmed, AT THE SAME TIME.
HUGO WEAVING
Excellent idea, Cate. Commence the droning!
The COUNCIL indulges in roughly NINE PAKISTANS WORTH of DRONING until everyone is COMATOSE.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
**** it, we might as well walk now.
EXT. MISTY MOUNTAINS
MARTIN and the DWARFS get caught in a battle of GIANT ROCK'EM SOCK'EM STONE GIANTS!
STONE GIANT
WHY AM I FALLING IN SLOOOW MOOOOTIOOOOONNNN?
KEN STOTT
You guys wouldn't even BE fighting if you knew how much butthurt this was going to cause among fans of the book.
Half the dwarfs get BODY SLAMMED by 20 TONS OF ROCK but are FINE. Then they all trip a FLOOR TRAP and fall 10 MILES DOWN A JAGGED STONE PIT and are still TOTALLY FINE because Tolkien hadn't invented CRUSHING DAMAGE yet.
INT. CAVE
HUNDREDS OF GOBLINS capture the DWARFS, but not MARTIN, because he DUCKS. Then ONE GOBLIN finds MARTIN and they FIGHT!
MARTIN FREEMAN
(hesitates, frowns)
Literally not one hour ago, I specifically mentioned that I've never handled a sword before, and I'm holding my own against a ******* monster. This is just lazy.
MARTIN and the GOBLIN fall ANOTHER 10 MILES DOWN A ROCKY CREVASSE, but MARTIN lands on a TWO-INCH MUSHROOM and is ENTIRELY, UTTERLY, NOT EVEN A ******* SCRATCH, FINE.
INT. ANDY SERKIS' CAVE
MARTIN finds THE ONE RING in a manner COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from how we saw it happen in FELLOWSHIP.
MARTIN FREEMAN
(hesitates, frowns)
The one time it would be a good idea to imitate that movie, and we DON'T do it. Right.
ANDY SERKIS
Greetings, hobbits! We challenges you to a battle of questionses! Smssh fplssh GOLLUM, ssghsss indecipherables gibberishes preciousnesses!
MARTIN FREEMAN
Ah, FINALLY, I can display the wits and cunning that justify making me the hero of this story!
(pause)
Except that I'll have all my answers spoon-fed to me by our surroundings, or your own words. And I'll stumble onto the winning question entirely by accident.
ANDY SERKIS
(shrugs)
That's OK, it's still the best scene in the movie. HOBBITS-EATING TIME!!!
(attacks)
But thanks to the ONE RING and a SILLY 3D EFFECT, MARTIN ESCAPES and finds his way OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN even though the WHOLE POINT of the question game was to get ANDY to show him the way OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN.
INT. ELSEWHERE IN THE CAVE
Just as all seems hopeless for the DWARFS, they are rescued by IAN MCKELLEN, in the NICK OF TIME, YET ******, and begin fighting their way out of the mountain in a CHASE SEQUENCE copied FRAME-BY-FRAME from PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2. However, their way is blocked by the enormous, hideous DAME EDNA GOBLIN KING!
GOBLIN KING
Not so fast! You must first defeat ME, a villain not one-tenth as scary as the Balrog that we've already seen you defeat!
IAN MCKELLEN, with all the collected writings of Middle-Earth at his command, decides to KILL the GOBLIN KING using a joke stolen from JASON X, the FRIDAY THE 13TH IN SPACE movie.
CORPSE OF J.R.R. TOLKIEN
(vomits blood)
Then everyone falls ANOTHER 30 MILES and the 12-ton GOBLIN KING falls ON TOP OF THEM and THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING, TOO, WHY THE **** NOT.
EXT. BASE OF THE MOUNTAIN
The COMPANY regroups.
MARTIN FREEMAN
There you are, Ian! Did everybody get out safely?
IAN MCKELLEN
(shakes head)
Alas, we have paid a high price for our freedom. Prepare thy tears as I relate the noble sacrifice of ... wait a minute ...
(looks around)
... holy ****, ALL the dwarfs are still alive. All goddamn 12 of them. Do I have to start putting red shirts on these ********?
KEN STOTT
Ian, thank God you only show up exactly when we need you.
IAN MCKELLEN
I am a Knight of the ******* Realm, and if I want to sit out all the parts where you're just walking to places, I will sit those parts out, dammit.
MANU BENNETT
Howdy everyone! I'm here to take my revenge on Richard.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
I'm surprised it took you until now. I mean, how long does it take to shove a barbecue fork through your forearm?
Everyone runs up a TREE the way HEROES DO until IAN remembers he can SET FIRE TO ****, except they waste it on PINE CONES. MANU hacks down the TREES, so now our heroes are dangling over a CLIFF!
KEN STOTT
Oh no, he's threatening us with falling. Has he not been paying attention?
RICHARD ARMITAGE
That does it, Manu, I'm challenging you! There's no way we'd do an entire movie without accomplishing SOME benchmark, so either YOU'RE gonna die, or I'M gonna die, or at least SOMEONE will ACTUALLY ACHIEVE SOMETHING!
(is defeated)
MARTIN FREEMAN
Hey, check this out, guys, now that the trees are flat, we can walk off them.
KEN STOTT
WALKING! How the **** did we not think of THAT?!
MARTIN walks off the TREE and SAVES RICHARD. Meanwhile IAN summons the EAGLES the EXACT SAME GODDAMN WAY HE DID IN THE OTHER MOVIES.
MARTIN FREEMAN
Somebody should really tell Peter Jackson that all of these allusions aren't making this movie more resonant, they're just robbing the originals of a lot of their impact.
PETER JACKSON
(curled up half-asleep on a giant pile of money)
Huhmm?
GEORGE LUCAS
It's OK, Peter. Go back to sleep.
The COMPANY is flown out of DANGER and left at the TOP of a TALL, NARROW PEAK, instead of at, oh let's say, the BOTTOM, because EAGLES ARE ********.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
Martin, you showed great courage, and I now respect you.
MARTIN FREEMAN
(hesitates, frowns)
Meaning both of our character arcs have been compressed into one film. You would think, with TWO MORE TO GO, they could've given that a little more time to develop.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
Well, we still have to get all the way to the Lonely Mountain ...
KEN STOTT
Hey, there it is.
RICHARD ARMITAGE
Aw ****.
END
