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back to middle-earth
LET'S TALK ABOUT THE HOBBIT SHALL WE?
I know, I'm terribly behind the times. I've been waiting to make this post because I was supposed to see it again this afternoon, but my plans fell through, so. Review ahoy.
It was basically flawless, and I loved it to bits. The scenery and costumes were gorgeous, and the acting was pretty much perfect. I've read reviews where people said it was too long -- and if we're being honest it probably was, by about 20 or 30 minutes -- but at the same time, I can't think of anything I would've wanted cut. Even the extra, added-in stuff worked for me. The orc fight scene en route to Rivendell doesn't happen in the book (at least, I don't think it does, I haven't read it in a couple years), but I really liked it. I also liked the White Council meeting, and Radagast's expanded role, and the historical background on Erebor. I loved that it opened with a Frodo/older!Bilbo sequence -- HELLO THERE ELIJAH, GOOD TO SEE YOU'RE STILL HOT LIKE THE SUN.
Speaking of hot things: When I first saw the production stills for this movie, I was kind of alarmed at how attractive I found some of the dwarves. The running joke on Tumblr is that the movie should've been called An Unexpected Boner, which is both hilarious as fuck and also true. I read The Hobbit first time when I was about seven, and the descriptions given -- short, stocky, brightly-colored beards -- made me think of Troll Dolls in hoods. That's pretty much how I've pictured them for the last 29 years, and that didn't jive with Aidan Turner's flawless face, or Richard Armitage's general state of majesty.
I pretty much loved all of them. Fíli and Kíli were gorgeous, and Thorin was broody and delicious. Dwalin and Balin were awesome, Nori was perfectly adorable, and Glóin looked so much like Gimli it made my heart hurt. I think Bofur was my favorite though, because of his flute and epic handlebar mustache.
(Okay, I will admit that I'm kind of pressed about one of the changes -- they had Thorin arrive late and alone, instead of with Gandalf and the last pocket of dwarves, so I was robbed of Thorin's KING UNDER THE BOMBUR moment, when Bilbo opens the door too fast and all the dwarves collapse into a heap on his doorstep. They did the dwarfpile, but Thorin was not at the bottom of it, and I WANTED IT. I WANTED IT.)
Okay, so. Bilbo. BILBO MOTHERFUCKING BAGGINS. I'm not going to lie, I was kind of anxious about Bilbo going in. I don't watch Sherlock, and I've never seen anything else Martin Freeman has done, so I didn't know what to expect. All I knew was that PJ was so adamant about Freeman playing Bilbo that he pushed back production to accomodate Freeman's shooting schedule for Sherlock. Yeah, well. AWESOME DECISION WAS AWESOME, BECAUSE FREEMAN FUCKING NAILED IT. He played Bilbo very close to the way I imagined him in the book, and also in a way that really made be believe that his Bilbo was a younger version of Ian Holm's Bilbo.
I've read a couple places that Freeman looked too young to play Bilbo, but I don't agree. Bilbo is 50 at the start of The Hobbit, which is roughly 33 human years, so I thought he was just about right.
In short, I loved it dearly. I can't wait for the other two movies, and I'm now slow-burning in my desire for PJ to get the rights to The Silmarillion. Even if they only did the exciting bits -- the creation, Fëanor and the Silmarils, the Fall of Gondolin, Thingol and Melian, Beren and Lúthien, the downfall of Númenor -- it would be about 12 hours worth of movie, and I'd still watch all of it.
The movie release has caused an uptick of Tolkien-related stuff on my dash, so I have some art recs for you.
Three Absolute Favorites:
Thorin, King Under the Bombur by![[personal profile]](https://www.tumblr.com/favicon.ico)
humourlesspoppycock [Bofur, Bifur, Bombur, Thorin]
This is the dwarfpile I was denied in the movie. I have no regrets.
Oakenshield is just a toy to them bypiiib [Thorin, Fíli, Kíli]
Allow me to do a bit more dork math here: At the start of the book, Thorin is 195, and his nephew's Fíli and Kíli are 82 and 77. He would've been about 40 in human years when they were toddlers, which has given me a soft spot for Thorin playing Grumpy Uncle to Fíli and Kíli as ridiculously adorable and round-faced dwarf children. TURNS OUT I AM ACTUALLY MADE OF MARSHMALLOW IN THE MIDDLE. WHO KNEW.
Durin Family bypiiib [Thorin, Fíli, Kíli]
This is more Grumpy Uncle Thorin with Tiny Fíli and Tiny Kíli. SORRY I'M NOT SORRY.
Numerous Other Things, Also Awesome:
Thorin, My Lord, bypiiib [Thorin, Kíli]
Bilbo keeping watch byberendoes [Bilbo, Thorin]
Glóin and family bybridgioto [Glóin, Glóin's wife, Gimli]
Ori and his crafts bylamamama [Ori]
Thranduil by![[personal profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/5b072fc8796e/1150150-59541/deviantart.com/favicon.ico)
candra [Thranduil]
Untitled bymalaikat [Thranduil]
Untitled bydamagedhands [Thorin]
Total Bros byravenclawsdiadem [Bilbo, Bofur]
Untitled byspader7 [Bilbo/Thorin, G]
Untitled byspader7 [Bilbo/Thorin, G]
Untitled byrad-i-cal [Bilbo/Thorin, G]
I came out of the movie kind of shipping Bilbo/Thorin, which was really unexpected. I ship LotR characters all over the place (Frodo is my fandom bicycle, no regrets), but I never really went there with The Hobbit, I think because I read it so young. I kind of want to search AO3 for fanfic, but I'm afraid it will hurt me in the childhood.
I know, I'm terribly behind the times. I've been waiting to make this post because I was supposed to see it again this afternoon, but my plans fell through, so. Review ahoy.
It was basically flawless, and I loved it to bits. The scenery and costumes were gorgeous, and the acting was pretty much perfect. I've read reviews where people said it was too long -- and if we're being honest it probably was, by about 20 or 30 minutes -- but at the same time, I can't think of anything I would've wanted cut. Even the extra, added-in stuff worked for me. The orc fight scene en route to Rivendell doesn't happen in the book (at least, I don't think it does, I haven't read it in a couple years), but I really liked it. I also liked the White Council meeting, and Radagast's expanded role, and the historical background on Erebor. I loved that it opened with a Frodo/older!Bilbo sequence -- HELLO THERE ELIJAH, GOOD TO SEE YOU'RE STILL HOT LIKE THE SUN.
Speaking of hot things: When I first saw the production stills for this movie, I was kind of alarmed at how attractive I found some of the dwarves. The running joke on Tumblr is that the movie should've been called An Unexpected Boner, which is both hilarious as fuck and also true. I read The Hobbit first time when I was about seven, and the descriptions given -- short, stocky, brightly-colored beards -- made me think of Troll Dolls in hoods. That's pretty much how I've pictured them for the last 29 years, and that didn't jive with Aidan Turner's flawless face, or Richard Armitage's general state of majesty.
I pretty much loved all of them. Fíli and Kíli were gorgeous, and Thorin was broody and delicious. Dwalin and Balin were awesome, Nori was perfectly adorable, and Glóin looked so much like Gimli it made my heart hurt. I think Bofur was my favorite though, because of his flute and epic handlebar mustache.
(Okay, I will admit that I'm kind of pressed about one of the changes -- they had Thorin arrive late and alone, instead of with Gandalf and the last pocket of dwarves, so I was robbed of Thorin's KING UNDER THE BOMBUR moment, when Bilbo opens the door too fast and all the dwarves collapse into a heap on his doorstep. They did the dwarfpile, but Thorin was not at the bottom of it, and I WANTED IT. I WANTED IT.)
Okay, so. Bilbo. BILBO MOTHERFUCKING BAGGINS. I'm not going to lie, I was kind of anxious about Bilbo going in. I don't watch Sherlock, and I've never seen anything else Martin Freeman has done, so I didn't know what to expect. All I knew was that PJ was so adamant about Freeman playing Bilbo that he pushed back production to accomodate Freeman's shooting schedule for Sherlock. Yeah, well. AWESOME DECISION WAS AWESOME, BECAUSE FREEMAN FUCKING NAILED IT. He played Bilbo very close to the way I imagined him in the book, and also in a way that really made be believe that his Bilbo was a younger version of Ian Holm's Bilbo.
I've read a couple places that Freeman looked too young to play Bilbo, but I don't agree. Bilbo is 50 at the start of The Hobbit, which is roughly 33 human years, so I thought he was just about right.
In short, I loved it dearly. I can't wait for the other two movies, and I'm now slow-burning in my desire for PJ to get the rights to The Silmarillion. Even if they only did the exciting bits -- the creation, Fëanor and the Silmarils, the Fall of Gondolin, Thingol and Melian, Beren and Lúthien, the downfall of Númenor -- it would be about 12 hours worth of movie, and I'd still watch all of it.
The movie release has caused an uptick of Tolkien-related stuff on my dash, so I have some art recs for you.
Three Absolute Favorites:
Thorin, King Under the Bombur by
This is the dwarfpile I was denied in the movie. I have no regrets.
Oakenshield is just a toy to them by
Allow me to do a bit more dork math here: At the start of the book, Thorin is 195, and his nephew's Fíli and Kíli are 82 and 77. He would've been about 40 in human years when they were toddlers, which has given me a soft spot for Thorin playing Grumpy Uncle to Fíli and Kíli as ridiculously adorable and round-faced dwarf children. TURNS OUT I AM ACTUALLY MADE OF MARSHMALLOW IN THE MIDDLE. WHO KNEW.
Durin Family by
This is more Grumpy Uncle Thorin with Tiny Fíli and Tiny Kíli. SORRY I'M NOT SORRY.
Numerous Other Things, Also Awesome:
Thorin, My Lord, by
Bilbo keeping watch by
Glóin and family by
Ori and his crafts by
Thranduil by
Untitled by
Untitled by
Total Bros by
Untitled by
Untitled by
Untitled by
I came out of the movie kind of shipping Bilbo/Thorin, which was really unexpected. I ship LotR characters all over the place (Frodo is my fandom bicycle, no regrets), but I never really went there with The Hobbit, I think because I read it so young. I kind of want to search AO3 for fanfic, but I'm afraid it will hurt me in the childhood.