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- Review count1
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- First reviewDecember 14, 2012
- Last reviewDecember 14, 2012
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- Average rating5
Pandachan915's Reviews
Overall rating
5
/
5
My First Tolkien on the Silver Screen
PostedDecember 14, 2012
Pandachan915
from Ohio
Age:18 to 24
Gender:Female
Goes to the movies:once every few months
Dialogue
5
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5
Special Effects
5
/
5
Art Direction
5
/
5
Acting
5
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5
Story
5
/
5
Camerawork
4
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5
I was not so fortunate to experience The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in theaters. Back then,I barely knew what an Elf was let alone a Hobbit. I am now a little more learned in the ways of Middle Earth,having read The Hobbit and seen the Lord of the Rings on DVD (still reading the books)
I adored reading The Hobbit. Tolkien had such a unique gift for storytelling that I was sucked in from the beginning. So naturally when I heard that they would make it a film I was delighted. Now the question is: did it live up to all the hype?
I adored reading The Hobbit. Tolkien had such a unique gift for storytelling that I was sucked in from the beginning. So naturally when I heard that they would make it a film I was delighted. Now the question is: did it live up to all the hype?
YES!
With the first few seconds of the film, I felt like I was home. My beloved Shire was here, and there was Bilbo Baggins and even Frodo, just as I had left them. The score of the film, the details of Bilbo's home, everything was true to what I envision Tolkien's world to be. Now we have the look of Middle Earth, but what of its inhabitants? No disappointments there either.
The casting was brilliant. Ian McKellen reprises his role as Gandalf the Grey, along with Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, and Christopher Lee, who also took up their old characters from Lord of the Rings. My two favorites were Martin Freeman, who played an exceptional Bilbo and Andy Serkis, who brought back the troubled Smeagol/Gollum. Serkis' role in particular really touched me. We interacted with Gollum before, but this is where is started. We see how Bilbo came by Gollum's "precious" ring and what drove Gollum to find our heros later on in the other films. It truly shows the skill of an actor to make such a complex character come alive on screen. There were 13 Dwarves to keep track of, even I couldn't quite remember which one was which, but that didn't make them any less interesting. Supplying the comic relief all the way through, the dwarves actually had some good fighting scenes.
The scenery, as always, stunning. New Zealand is truly beautiful and I would give anything to see it for myself. The only flaw I had with the film were a few camera shots during a fight scene. During some of these battle scenes, the images would go by so fast that it would almost seem to blur. I kept squinting at the screen to make sure it wasn't my eyes that were causing this. Aside from that, I have nothing bad to say.
Yes, the movie ran for a good 3 hours (literally) and yes my poor boyfriend and I were sleep deprived and almost fell asleep through the previews, but that only shows how good a film can be if it sucks you in for 3 hours and keeps you going with energy you didn't think you had.
Fans of Tolkien, you will not be disappointed. Never read the Hobbit? Don't let that stop you from seeing a really good film. There was literally a guy in front of us who asked his neighbor what a Hobbit was and he still enjoyed it. The history and names might be a bit hard to follow, but the flow and direction of the film tied everything together perfectly so even then, you know what is going on.
Now I just have to wait for the second film in this new trilogy. I guess I can use some of that time to watch the film again...and again :)
Pros well paced, great story, great actors
Yes, I recommend this movie.
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