Re: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Grading & Discussion (Spoile
I really liked DoS, and really enjoyed Bard and Laketown the action/fight sequences, the Dol Guldur subplot and the fantastic effects (all of which are mentioned upthread and I really can't add much to)--and in fact, I didn't mind the liberties taken with the original, or even the length. However, I had serious problems with two things:
1. The movie assumes you've read the book and are prepared for and accepting of a loose interpretation. A piece from the book is brought in, wow factor is presented, there's a summary of its purpose/feelings/desire, and then an action sequence, which bring us to another bit from the book. Maybe. Take a potty break and you'd miss out entirely. For as long as this movie is, I had expected
slightly more more fleshing out. I kept feeling like they'd edited a great script with a hatchet and duct tape and filmed it verbatim.
2. I was really excited to know the inclusion of another strong female elf in the plot--and this time, an action-oriented character. If we're going to stretch the story, why not include one? Tauriel is made of win, a captain, warrior and an innovative thinker...and her most memorable take-away is relegated to a love story, which--like everything else in the movie--appears with assumptions of acceptance, this time in the form of a
highly unusual attraction and completely ignoring Kili's actual duty. (Their fate is certainly predictable--though I'm really, really hoping it won't be all I expect.) It ends up looking like a chunk of dramatic irony, re., Legolas, and a way to chew on Laketown's set a while longer before it all goes up. Arwen's established relationship vs. Eowyn's longing for Aragorn works because it was the actual story and Eowyn grows from it, i.e., it has its place in the whole, but in DoS, it was...meh.
While I appreciate a little flirtation and adore Tauriel's awareness of her place in and apart from her society, her think-out-the-confines leader, and remain blown away by her part in the action sequences, I think she deserved more--certainly far better than having her character cut short by trouser humor and, worse, a touchy-healing moment whilst Legolas busts his ass outside. Again, I really hope Movie #3 proves me wrong about this direction...but I've watched enough Trek to know it probably won't.
(ETA:
My autocorrect had a field day with Dol Guldur.)
