Review: "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

Director: Peter Jackson
Runtime: 161 minutes

Many argue that The Two Towers, the second of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, is the strongest film in an outstanding cinematic trio. Middle installments come burdened with moving pieces and are unable to finish with a bang. At least, they're not allowed to finish with as big of a bang as the final entry, which gets the benefit of wrapping it all up. The Two Towers, however, overcame that by creating its own epic ending, yet still making it clear the obstacles that lay ahead in The Return of the King. It was a spectacle having its cake and eating it too, in the very best way. That same success, sadly, is nowhere to be found in The Desolation of Smaug, Peter Jackson's middle chapter of this three-part adaptation of Tolkien's The Hobbit. Instead, it's the film that many likely feared Jackson's original trilogy would be: bloated, emotionally hollow, and suffocated by visual effects. 

Whatever flaws one can find with last year's An Unexpected Journey (and there are many), that at least had a proper beginning. Desolation kicks off with an unnecessary flashback to dole out catch-up details, and then hits the ground running. Unfortunately, the film's feet are made of glass. The mix of hand-crafted and computer-generated sets and models is even more glaringly obvious than in Part I, which breaks the spell immediately. While certain VFX shots in the original trilogy no doubt look a tad dated by now, they at least still have a lived-in, tactile feel. By contrast, the blend of CGI and reality is amateurish at best, with the lighting for the green screens casting a hazy glow over an unfortunate number of scenes. The vaseline on the lens look has been put to great use before (Casablanca is still stunning), but here it just looks cheap, and even unfinished.

More disappointing is how much Jackson's storytelling skills have dropped in quality. The plotting is agonizingly drawn-out, yet what little character exists is often rushed. Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage, handsome even underneath the make up), is a compelling figure, yet this time around he only has one note to play. The supporting band of dwarves, meanwhile, often feel interchangeable. Like excessive characters in a horror movie, they exist merely to fill the frame when the action kicks in. And while Jackson and his co-writers deserve credit for creating a badass female elf warrior (Evangeline Lilly's Tauriel), they also stick her in a totally bloodless pseudo-love triangle that drags things down even further. Even Bilbo (Martin Freeman), our supposed guide and protagonist, feels like an afterthought until the finale. 

Thankfully, after all of the build up, Jackson does hit a home run when he reaches the super-sized climax. The villainous dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch), is stunning. Both the visual effects and Cumberbatch's performance are excellent, and together they create the single best thing about an otherwise misguided pair of adaptations. Even the story's several cutaways to other matters (the elves, the townsfolk near Smaug's mountain lair, Gandalf - remember him?) can't throw off the thrill once the dragon takes center stage. The varied set pieces Jackson wrings out of the encounter are excellent. Smaug is rendered so well that even the lackluster work on the backdrops finally stops being a bother. 

But then the "ending" comes crashing in and ruins the fun of it all. We still have another full length film to wrap this all up (one that originally wasn't supposed to exist). Jackson and company more than deliver with the titular dragon (and there is a lot of material with him), yet the final cut to black is a rude reminder of just how much this adaptation has been dragged out. It's the worst sort of fan service, trying to give every moment of the (quite slim) novel its due, and then throwing in a bunch of other nonsense to fill in the gaps. You're better off buying a ticket and then finding something to do for an hour and a half. That way, you'll skip nearly all of the narrative fat, and only enjoy the good stuff. Best to sully your cinematic memories of Middle Earth as little as possible. 

Grade: C-

Review: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

Director: Peter Jackson
Runtime: 169 minutes

The source material for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey may not have the darkness, depth, or length of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but that certainly hasn't stopped Peter Jackson from trying to repeat the same success from a decade ago. An Unexpected Journey marks the first of three (originally two) films based on Tolkien's lighter, slimmer novel. Is the three film to one book ratio a cash driven gambit? Most likely. It allows Jackson and company to flesh out and explore more of Tolkien's world and characters, to be sure, but at what cost to the storytelling quality? Yet ultimately, though this first installment never reaches the heights of Jackson's last journey into Middle Earth, An Unexpected Journey, warts and all, stands as proof that there's no one better suited to take audiences through Tolkien's universe.

Though decidedly lighter in tone, the film still possesses the trademark Tolkinean grandeur. This is best evidenced in a flashback/prologue sequence detailing the history of the great Dwarven stronghold of Erebor, and how it fell after an attack by the vicious dragon Smaug (to be voiced by Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch in the rest of the trilogy). With the dwarves scattered, some find leadership in the grandson of the deposed king, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). Time passes, and eventually a small band of Dwarves under Thorin's command decide that the time is right to try and reclaim Erebor from Smaug, who has remained dormant. With the help of their ally Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan, as effortlessly compelling always), they find their way to the home of Bilbo Baggins (played by the other Sherlock star, Martin Freeman).

Initially upset by the bawdy Dwarvish ensemble mucking about in his kitchen, Bilbo eventually succumbs to the promise for an adventure, one that Gandalf promises will leave him forever changed (if he survives, that is). And once Jackson finally gets Bilbo on his way and the fellowship of the Dwarves begin their long (long, long) trek to The Lonely Mountain, An Unexpected Journey finally develops a sense of purpose. The opening stretches of the film are - Dwarven backstory aside - the weakest, as the reinforce the idea that this three film enterprise is nothing but shameless indulgence. Rather than simply settle in to the fall of Erebor, Jackson inserts a completely unnecessary framing device involving the old Bilbo (Ian Holm) writing down his tale, which is little more than an excuse for an Elijah Wood cameo. 

The opening also introduces us to one of the film's other shortcomings, albeit on the technical front. This is Tolkien in the age of digital cameras, and even without seeing the film in 48 frames per second, there were times when the difference was palpable. Most jarring are some of the visual effects. Gone, for the most part, is the use of miniatures and models to create epic cities and structures. Complete CGI is often king here, and coupled with the digital camera technology it can produce some displeasing aesthetic effects. Most notable is in the the Fall of Erebor, where the entire flashback sequence possesses a strange, faded glow, as if someone smeared a jumbo-sized jar of Vaseline on the camera lens. Elsewhere, the blend of sets and CGI backdrops is often too saturated and smooth to register with the same artistic majesty that so bolstered the Rings trilogy. 

Despite the occasionally distracting aesthetics, An Unexpected Journey does, thankfully, improve as it goes along. Not all of its side ventures (some of which are designed to create tie-ins to Rings) are as compelling as others. The bits involving Radagast the Brown and his sled pulled by Olympic-speed rabbits, for example, feel too cartoon-y and broad. Yet, on the other hand, when Jackson rekindles that old magic from 10 years ago, it connects. A flashback involving a failed Dwarven siege of the Mines of Moria is well-handled, and establishes Armitage's Thorin as a compelling equivalent of Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn. Later set pieces also come through, including a sequence where the troupe finds itself riding on the ridges of several gargantuan stone giants in the midst of a battle. 

Yet the film's shining moment comes without the slightest bit of violence or spectacle. Bilbo, separated from Gandalf and the Dwarves, stumbles upon a tiny golden ring, as well as its deranged owner, Smeagol/Gollum (Andy Serkis). Serkis is as good in the role as he's ever been, manic mood swings and all, and his game of riddles with Bilbo is the film's high point. Coupled with the big action sequence/chase and the surprisingly chill-inducing final confrontation involving Thorin and an Orc lord, and you have a film that truly reaches its purpose in its last third or so.

Even when the film falters, however, Jackson's grasp of the world remains strong, and his performers are plenty engaging, even if some of the Dwarven band blend together. Freeman makes a wonderful Bilbo, the odd man out among a group of people with a goal more personal than he can ever know. Returning cast members McKellan, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, and Christopher Lee are nail their material, as limited as some of it is. Yet it is Armitage who emerges as the most compelling figure of the bunch. Unlike Aragorn, who was almost dragged into fulfilling his role as king of Gondor, Thorin starts the story with a purpose, one tied to both duty and pride. Jackson's indulgences with flashbacks may throw some off, but those concerning Thorin do at least give a concrete sense of what this protracted journey means to him.

When all is said and done, it might be difficult to fully judge An Unexpected Journey until parts two and three (Dec. 2013 and July 2014, respectively) arrive, and we can step back and view Jackson's entire treatment. Until then, we're left with this first slice of a story that, for better and for worse, has been inflated in an attempt to match the glory that the director and his collaborators achieved a decade ago. For the sake of audiences everywhere, I wish them the best of luck.

Grade: B-

One step forward, two steps backward: Trailers to ring in 2012

Even though we're still dealing with awards season craziness, it's never too soon to start looking past the acceptance speeches and trophies, and into what cinema holds in store for us in the new year. Over the past two weeks, three trailers have emerged for three very big potential blockbusters. One is a sequel, while the other two are prequels (more or less). And all three have one thing in common: insanely high expectations.

When your previous film develops rabid fanboys, becomes a massive box office success, and scores an actor an Oscar, all while being a super hero movie, the next installment is under scrutiny from day one. That's certainly been the case with Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, the director's final contribution to Batman's cinematic legacy. Everything has been picked apart, and concerns have been raised regarding everything from casting to costume choices. With the release of the first full trailer, however, Nolan's latest is finally putting some (or at least, my) worries to rest. The trailer covers quite a lot thematically without spelling out the specific direction of the plot. It also gives us some nice looks at Tom Hardy as Bane, and Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman, who shakes off her rom-com personality to inject a surprising amount of menace. The actions scenes look intense, and the idea of Gotham actually falling into chaos (a fulfillment of the Arkham breakout in Batman Begins) looks like an interesting way to bring Nolan's trilogy full-circle. Oh, and the creepy chanting that plays over the last half of the footage? Perfection.

Trailer Grade: A-

Next we have Prometheus, Ridley Scott's long-gestating prequel-but-it-sort-of-isn't to Alien. Boasting a stellar ensemble, the film's entire look is fantastic, and I can't wait to see more footage. We need another well made, big budget sci-fi flick to counterbalance the likes of Transformers. That eerie, monolithic face statue, as well as that strange crescent structure are enough to get me hooked from a visual standpoint. Even more interesting will be to see the creation footage that Scott and crew were reportedly filming in Iceland. On a nerdier note, it will be interesting to see how the film plays off of its mythically based title. Given the film's tag line, it's probably meant to be a rather dark variation. Scott has been a bit of a slump that past few years, but here's hoping that a return to sci-fi will help him return to his best. Love that gradual reveal of the title too.

Trailer Grade: B+

Finally, we come to the most troubled of the three: Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The first of two films covering the novel (part two hits in 2013), the film has struggled to move ahead with production. Guillermo Del Toro was originally set to direct, before financial and legal issues delayed the start of shooting so much that he bailed. Jackson is back in the chair, which is reasurring that at least it will be the exact same vision as before. Let's just hope it doesn't end up feeling, stale, though. The footage is relatively simple, not showing anything epic, and focusing more on the characters and the lighter nature of the narrative. A lot of the footage still needs to be color-graded, but overall I'm very hopeful that the long-delayed return to Middle Earth will be worth it. The film is being shot on cutting-edge technology at the highest frame rate ever for a major motion picture. How this will affect the film, for better or for worse, remains to be seen, but at the very least it will help the film feel slightly different. Now if only we can get around to seeing some footage of Smaug...

Trailer Grade: B

James Bond: 1962-2008 (for MGM, that is)

Word over at Cinematical is that the upcoming Bond 23, scheduled to be directed by Sam Mendes, has been permanently canceled, which is a real shame. As the linked article states, MGM, the studio behind the franchise since 1962's Dr. No, has a staggering debt of nearly $4 billion. This also casts doubts on the increasingly delayed adaptation of The Hobbit, with Sir Ian McAwesome stating that he will eventually pull out of the film if it doesn't start pre-production soon enough. You can rant about how big studios keep making the same crap over and over again year after year, but there's no denying that they've also brought us classic franchises, and to see two of them in danger at once is disheartening to say the least. Still, hopes are higher for 007, as the franchise is far and away one of the most successful in history, and I wouldn't be surprised if we heard news about various (stable) studios bidding to produce the next installment. The only downside is that the reliable Daniel Craig may be too old (regardless of how ripped he is) to play the role for a studio's liking. This is the real tragedy of the situation, because Craig's Bond, while certainly a tougher, more Bourne-esque figure, certainly had his strengths, best displayed in his first outing in the excellent Casino Royale. Personally, I'm hoping that the franchise finds a new home quickly, so that a third Craig-led Bond film can get underway. Besides, shouldn't Craig's Bond get a better final installment than Quantum of Solace?

"Batman 3" and "The Hobbit" by 2013

2013? 2013!? That's the longest we might have to wait? Okay, maybe I should calm down. After all, Christopher Nolan isn't a super hero (ha ha), and even with his brother Jonathan working on the script for Batman 3, he'll probably need a break after the extensive work on Inception (which I'm unbelievably excited for) before he jumps back into the director's chair. Still, it's been nearly two years since The Dark Knight, and it took three years between Batman Begins and that film. It would have been nice to have a repeat of that time table, but that looks highly unlikely. Oh well, at least it's being made, and with Nolan on board (which was confirmed a while ago).

Also, how nice is it to finally hear something GOOD about Del Toro/Jackson's The Hobbit? For a while it seemed like the whole project had come to a complete standstill. It's nice to see that at least one major film franchise is getting its next installment off the ground. People can rag on Del Toro for Hellboy all they want, but it doesn't change the fact that he wrote and directed both The Devil's Backbone and Pan's Labyrinth, two stunning fantasy-dramas. And with Peter Jackson simultaneously in a rut as a director (The Lovely Bones) and on a high as a producer (District 9), it's good to have the grand maestro behind The Lord of the Rings trilogy involved in a pivotal role. I, for one, am more than ready to return to Middle Earth.

Neill Blomkamp talks about "District 9" sequel and "The Hobbit"

Source: Ain'titcoolnews.com

In THIS INTERVIEW with SciFiMoviePage, writer/director Neill Blomkamp reveals that The Powers That Be want a "sequel" to DISTRICT 9 - which he "jokingly" (although not unexpectedly) refers to as DISTRICT 10.

The interview discusses whether to prequel or not to prequel, what to do with Wikus, etc.

Neill also mentions D9 producer Peter Jackson's work on del Toro's HOBBIT adaptation - indicating that current plans call for 370 days of shooting on that film, starting in April. Not sure that length of shoot has been mentioned elsewhere before (although maybe it has) - 'tis a long haul indeed.

Hugo Weaving confirmed for "The Hobbit"

One of BBC radio presenter Simon Mayo’s guests this week was Guillermo del Toro, and luckily for Guillermo, he came by on a Tuesday when Mayo’s oft-addled movie-reviewing sidekick Mark Kermode would be out of the way. While they were there to primarily discuss Del Toro’s vampire novel The Strain, Mayo did have a poke and probe into many of Guillermo’s upcoming movies, not least of all The Hobbit. After the break, details on his various cast confirmations, including Hugo Weaving as Elrond, and a good sackful of other del Toro updates, including details on why Hellboy 3 will very possibly not happen, the casting and make-up tests for Frankenstein, a potential TV version of The Strain and more.

Let’s deal with The Hobbit first because, hey, Guillermo has to. When Mayo asked about the proposed ‘bridge film’, Guillermo explained that now the plan was to make just two films, between them adapting the novel and factoring in some subplot material:

There is a whole other chapter, so to speak, which is the comings and going of Gandalf which are dealt with, people that know the lore know that Gandalf was delayed with a crisis… with a character that is very shady called the Necromancer that proves to be Sauron.

Mayo then asked if Andy Serkis is back, which prompted Guillermo to confirm a nice little trio of casting locks:

Yes [and] Ian McKellen is back, [and] Hugo Weaving in the roles they originated in the trilogy.

On the matter of Smaug, Guillermo explained that only now, after eight months of design work have they just “cracked the basic engineering.” He suspects that they will need another six or seven months of application there before Smaug is ready for his close up.

Beyond The Hobbit, Guillermo discussed the possibility of him directing a fourth Blade film - no, because Wesley Snipes and New Line are no longer “on legal speaking terms”; of a third Hellboy, which sadly seems unlikely as Ron Perlman has said he no longer wants to wear the prosthetics, so Guillermo “guesses” it will never happen; and of a feature film of The Strain, which won’t happen as he believes it would require six feature films, so he instead suggests a comic book or TV series, which would have Ron Perlman as the rat catcher Vasily Fet.

As for Jekyll and Hyde, Guillermo let it be known that he will only be producing. For Frankenstein, however, he will definitely be directing. Most surprisingly, he announced that he has already cast Doug Jones in the role of the monster and that make-up tests for the film would be taking place in the next few weeks. Is he planning to shoot it while still in New Zealand?

The smaller updates related to Guillermo’s adaptations of Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness and Dahl’s The Witches, for both of which he has long since had completed scripts in hand. Neither, however, has received studio support and not being able to find the funding has prevented either from being made. According to Guillermo, though, securing the cash for them in future will be “a quest” for him, so don’t count either picture out for the count yet.

You can listen to the full show via the BBC’s iPlayer until Monday, at least. Guillermo comes on at around the 1 hour 47 minute mark. Thanks to Ben Key for reminding us to pull our fingers out and actually listen to the interview with his pointing towards the OneRing forums.

Guillermo Del Toro talks a little about "The Hobbit" (2010/11)

Source: SlashFilm

In order to publicise The Strain, his new vampire novel written by with Chuck Hogan, Guillermo del Toro has been doing an awful lot of interviews. The best, perhaps, have been with MTV - at least in terms of the off-topic news they’ve managed to squeeze out of the fella. Not only have they had him all but spell out where the split between two films is going to come in his telling of The Hobbit, they’ve even teased out a confession that, at last, Del Toro is down to a single choice in the casting of Bilbo Baggins.

The specific format of this Hobbit adaptation hasn’t been too clear until now, but the following quotes from Del Toro nail it down pretty solidly:

I’m doing only two movies because I felt that that was the best way to service the book. I’m not saying the other notion was not discussed. We discussed it a large degree. But I felt that for me, the two films were the way to go.

When you read the book, there is only one place to break it really, and everybody knows it. It’s been discussed in forums and there’s a lot of people that are right. That’s where it’s going to break. So it’s very simple. What we’re doing is because we have the relationship between Bilbo and Thorin and all the dwarves, there is a logical place for that relationship. There is a moment in the book where something is accomplished that allows us to say, ‘Okay, on to the next one after this.’

As for the inclusion of material from the appendices, it seems that the run time of the two films will be expanded with “White Council or the Dol Guldur additions.”

I’m personally 100% sure that the break point he’s talking about is when Bilbo and the dwarves escape the Mirkwood elves on a raft made of barrels. That’s the chapter Barrels out of Bond, which I think does pretty much mark the half way point. And by my reckoning, that means the White Council and Dol Guldur scenes would feature in the second film. I’m no Tolkien expert, though - I probably know even less than those Rings-rappers Peter put on Page 2 earlier this week.

If you’re wanting to bet on who will play Bilbo, get down to the bookies now. Del Toro tells MTV to expect the casting news within “the next few weeks”. If I have to pin my colours to one particular option… ohh… I’m finding it a tough call, but I think Ewen McGregor is looking pretty likely.