The Hobbit movies

[Firiel]

WARNING: Overly-invested post ahead.

Warning: Contrary Opinion Ahead

I like the LOTR movies, but the Hobbit ones are terrible. I've only seen the first one, but it was such an uncomfortable mix of dopey rhyming dwarf names and goofy slapstick, and way-fucking-overwrought melodrama (I realize the rhyming names come straight from the book, but I still think they're dumb). And there's no legitimate reason for it to be 3 movies, except for greed of course.

In my perfect world this would be one movie, and there would be about 10 fewer dwarves. Can you tell I am not a Tolkien fanatic?

Okay, my fun-killing duties are complete. Continue enjoying yourselves.

:lol: I hate the Hobbit movies. Coming from a Tolkien fanatic.

I think the main issue you raise (dopey names, goofy slapstick, and melodrama) is very similar to the issue I have. Basically, Jackson tried to turn The Hobbit into something it wasn't. The book was originally a children's book. I kind of think of it along the lines of The Gammage Cup, the Black Cauldron series, and The Phantom Tollbooth. It's a fun epic for kids, hence the rhyming names and slapstick goofiness. Lord of the Rings quickly moved from the light adventure genre to the epic fantasy genre. Jackson captured the Lord of the Rings' spirit about as well as is possible, but when he tries to use that same aesthetic for The Hobbit, something is off. Even adding in some more of the epic backstory that Tolkien fills out later (and in different texts), it just doesn't fit. If you want to see a movie that honestly captures the spirit of the book WAY better, watch the cartoon version from the '70s. For realsies.

But I think there's also something to be said for the fact that The Hobbit as a book would have a hard time getting published by today's standards. I mean, a company of dwarves picks up a hobbit to be their burglar so they can go on a quest to reclaim their mountain home and gold from an Eldritch abomination, and the only real plan the dwarves have is to...send in their burglar to steal something so that they risk waking the dragon and pissing it off. There's absolutely no plan in place for incapacitating or killing the beast.

I mean, really?

See above. As a modern epic fantasy, it doesn't work. But it's meant to be a children's book. IMO, it works great for what it was intended as.

Aragorn was around already. I think he's part elf, hence longer life-span, but it's been way too long since I read the books so I could be wrong on that. Anyway, at the end of the 3rd movie, Thranduil sends Legolas north to meet a Ranger called Strider, aka Aragorn. I'm not up on who else he wanted to return - he had Gandalf, Saruman, Cate Blanchett, Legolas, Gollum, and Elrond. Gimli wasn't around yet, ditto for the Hobbits, Boromir, and probably anyone from Rohan (pretty sure they're Men with normal lifespans). Unless he wanted Aragorn to pop up somehow. Or an Ent, maybe?

Yeah, Aragorn was of the line of Numenor, meaning he was a descendant of Elrond's brother Elros. Both the brothers were able to choose if they wanted to be human or elf because of their mixed blood. Elros chose to be human, but he and his kin were granted a very long life span. Aragorn was 87 at the time of LotR, so if we are using the movie timeline (which doesn't include the 17 years between Bilbo's going away party and the start of the LotR adventure), he would have been in his mid-20s during The Hobbit (in the book timeline, he was 10). It's possible Jackson wanted Viggo Mortenson to reprise his role. Aragorn was actually fostered in Rivendell after his father died, so he could have been there. Mortenson is a huge LotR fanatic, so I could see him not agreeing to something that he felt was not a good representation of the books. Jackson could also have tried to get Gimli involved. Someone showed Bilbo a picture of Gimli. He was older than Aragorn, so he would have been around and a viable adult, by either timeline.

[Bookworm]

As for Aragorn, I got the impression that he and Legolas were childhood friends, because Aragorn was raised by Elrond. Also, I believe he was 110 when he was crowned king.

Legolas's father is Thranduil, though, so he would have been raised in Mirkwood, not Rivendell. Minor point :)

I do agree that The Hobbit trilogy was disappointing. I tried to view them as Hobbit-inspired stories and was able to bear it that way! I think they suffered a lot from Del Toro not helping direct this time. There were some fun things, and cool scenes, but I disliked the whole Azog storyline. Unnecessary.