The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoilers)

[Enterprise1701]

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile

Nice review. I do agree with the cartoonish action, for the most part. I really loved the Barrels Out of Bond sequence, including the Elves, except for the part where Bombur bounced and rolled around in his barrel and destroyed like half of the Orcs on his own. It was funny, but a little too close to absurd.

Y'know I just realized that it's like some other sequences in fiction. The most recent one I saw was in The Legend of Korra when Bumi accidentally used a mecha-tank to destroy the entire Northern Water Tribe military camp.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile

I found the cartoony sequences in the first film nearly unbearable (the Goblin King section being the most noteworthy example). The second movie seemed toned down for me. If the barrel scene was the worst, it wasn't all that bad. At the same time, they cartooniness was arguably an attempt to make the Hobbit more child-friendly than the Lord of the Rings, since it was written that way, and the move away from cartoony is proportionate to the move away from the source material (certainly, the Elves in Lake Town weren't all that cartoony in their set piece).