I actually went to see this movie some time ago and so I’m coming in a little late on this. Actually, I’m coming in a little late on posting as well. I’ve gotten kind of a late start this year and trying to play catch up now. Had a few hiccups from switching web hosts which are causing issues. So, instead of making empty promises, let’s just say we’ll see what happens and go from there.
Back to the subject at hand.
The good thing that I had under my belt was being able to recently read the novel before I went to see the movie. That helped tremendously especially in the area of these series that I do on movies and writing in the fantasy/superhero-type genre (for those of you who do not know, check out the latest I did on X-Men: Days of Future Past). Having seen the previous movies in this series as well, it gives me a better grasp of the content.
As you may know from my previous posts in this series, you know that one of my sticking points with movies in this vein is that they stick to the source material. I must say for about 85% of the material, Peter Jackson played it pretty close to the vest. Yes, there must be some creative license when it comes to adapting a book into movie form. But the root of the material should be there because that is what made the stories so enjoyable to begin with. However, if that license is taken (and it almost certainly will be), it should add something to the overall story to strengthen it.
WARNING: Some spoilers here so if you haven’t seen the movie, bookmark this page, go check it out, then come back and finish this article.
For example, there is an elven female that is added to the story that has an attraction to one of the dwarves. The so-called romance element added to the movie that was no where in the book. It didn’t enhance the story in any form and you could have axed that whole element and it wouldn’t have changed a thing. It would have actually made the movie better if it just wasn’t there.
However, the addition of Legalos to the story was a plus as it tied directly to the other movies. In addition, the battle between Thorin and the main orc antagonist was moving and added drama to the story. This is the place where I can honestly say that the writing actually improved the story since the book made Thorin’s death an afterthought mentioned in only a paragraph fleetingly.
Overall, the writing here was good. For the most part, it did what a movie was supposed to do. Despite the Christopher Tolkien’s criticism of the movie adaptations of his father’s work, I stand in the crowd that the writing on this caught some things that his father’s writing did not and made it a little more enjoyable. In short, good writing is simply good writing.
What do you think? Love to hear from you.
