My ten year old is a diehard LOTR junkie, so like many other families we found ourselves going to see Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit during the holiday season. And why not? I mean, what could go together more naturally than Christmas and The Hobbit…
You know, for some reason I have this strange craving for a bubblegum precious…
Anyway, if you’ve now seen the film yourself and want to know what the rest of the Catholic blogosphere thought about it, here’s a round up of a few select reviews. I’ve purposely stayed away from the professional critics who didn’t care for The Hobbit as a film and instead linked to regular bloggers who enjoyed it for what it was. And I’ve done so for the singular reason that… me and my son liked the movie, all 169 bloated minutes of it. And for the most part, so did these folks, who not only appreciated The Hobbit, but found some Catholic goodies hidden in it as well…
So who else out there has seen The Hobbit and what did you think? I’d love to hear some more takes on it.
7 comments:
Haven't seen it yet. Must confess I'm not devoted to Tolkien & sold my copies of the books years ago. **ducks to avoid tire iron**
Xena Catolica
Well, as long as we're confessing...
When I was ten my fifth grade teacher told me to quit wasting my time in the kid's section of the library and shoved her copy of The Hobbit in my hands. I read it all the way through in days and have loved it ever since. It was my stepping stone into real books. But...
I never made it all the way through The Fellowship Of The Ring the first time I picked it up and it was a couple of decades before I finally finished it. Instead, the second novel I read (at the age of ten) was probably Jaws (given to me by brother) followed by Stephen King's The Stand (given to me by his wife). Formative? You be the judge.
whew! Glad I don't have to turn in my nerd card.
As I consider my own 1st few real books, I'm detecting pirates, two headsman, treachery, and a lot of violence. You know, literature. My school helped: Beowulf in 5th grade, all of Iliad and Odyssey in 6th. Now I feel happy.
Xena Catolica
I went into it with very low expectations and perhaps because of that, I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would. It's like the Lord of the Rings movies in that there are moments when I was utterly sold and enchanted, and other moments when I was face-palming. I loved the riddle scene. I thought Freeman did a good job. What I didn't care for was virtually every action sequence, which all looked like a video game. I think Peter Jackson invented his own version of Jar Jar Binks in his treatment of Radagast the Brown. And Bofur of course looked like Derek Smalls from Spinal Tap.
Interesting, Dave, I linked to a few different Catholic reviewers on my blog. The reaction seemed mixed. They didn't like the length and some of the extra story (Azog, Radagast, The White Council) from the appendices. I'm inclined to agree and consider The Hobbit an enjoyable but flawed film.
Of course, I attended a late screening, so perhaps that contributed to my finding the running time a bit excessive. I'll be sure to check out your links. Maybe they caught something I missed!
"What I didn't care for was virtually every action sequence, which all looked like a video game."
"They didn't like the length and some of the extra story (Azog, Radagast, The White Council) from the appendices. I'm inclined to agree..."
Don't get me wrong, as a 'film' it is very flawed. It's bloated, makes some changes to the story I don't agree with, and everything with Radagast is just dumb. But... I went to see it with my ten year old son (who has Aspergers, so rarely sits still for any length of time except for some reason at the movies), bought a days worth of food at the concession stand, and had an enjoyable time at the movies. So I'm not really using the same criteria as real critics.
I think I'll parrot my response to a comment over at Catholic Exchange. A lot of the critical pieces I’ve read complain about stuff like the scene in which Bilbo rushes in to save Thorin as they feel it changes his character from the book too much. But I’m wondering if they’re jumping the gun due to over-familiarity with the story. I’m of the mind to wait for all three movies to see if Jackson incorporates all of Tolkein’s themes or not.
Post a Comment