Thanks to some nice babysitters, lady friend and I managed to see some movies in the theater. First up is part 2 of 3 of possibly the most over-the-top book adaptation to hit the silver screen. I’m a big geek and I loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Though, there is one thing that I love more than elves, orcs, hobbits, sword-fighting, never-ending action sequences, dwarves, and wizards. Character development and competent storytelling. After watching The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, you can’t help but think how utterly unnecessary most of the movie ends up being. I sort of understand what Peter Jackson is trying to do. Other than the obvious box office implications of doing another trilogy, you have this epic journey to reclaim the dwarves homeland. Except that there isn’t enough plot to sustain three movies, so Jackson throws in a bunch of extra crap that serves fanboys, but not the story or the characters. This movie is in desperate need of an editor. Someone who can say, “Hey, bro, this just doesn’t work and you’re not giving your audience anything to look forward to in the extended edition Bluray releases.” The best parts of these movies end up being the iconic events from the book that come to amazing life on screen. Everything else is filler, but we’re talking about hours of it! Did Legolas and Liv Tyler’s sister need to be in this movie? Did Liv Tyler’s sister need to have a mini-romance with the dwarf that looks like Aragorn? Does Gandalf need to go on little side missions that inform us of virtually nothing other than the “darkness is coming” or “war is brewing”? I’m looking forward to a fan-edit version of the three Hobbit movies. Then it will be what it should have been all along: a three-hour epic masterpiece.
Next up is another book adaptation in the form of Hunger Games: Catching Fire. I didn’t like the first Hunger Games movie, but it eventually grew on me. Then I got excited about the next movie and read the book about 6 months ago. I plan on reading the third book just as soon as I get this stupid paper finished. Catching Fire is exactly what you’d expect. It’s fun and mildly interesting. The execution is virtually flawless. My only real beef is with the source material. These books are poorly written. There are just too many coincidences and contrivances. It’s entirely too safe. It’s what you write if you want a best seller. Take the character of Katniss. She spends all her time worrying about her loved ones and being totally clueless about what is going on around her. She ends up coming off as a helpless co-dependent little girl, but the story tries to make her this tough heroine. She’s not strong, she can’t think for herself. She seems to go through each situation, lost and oblivious to the bigger picture.
Anyway…
Hobbit 2 — Watch if you’re a true geek, then wait for the fan edit.
Katniss Fire — Fun for all ages.
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