I'll open this with a frank confession. This is the third part in a series of three 'The Hobbit' films and I haven't seen the first two parts. I was preparing to be bored and confused when I watched this installment and you know what? I was confused but not at all bored! It's a drama-filled visual feast! 'The Hobbit' is a book by JRR Tolkien who also wrote 'The Lord of the Rings'. The events of 'The Hobbit' precede those of 'The Lord of the Rings'.
To be fair to the film, I took along my 15 year old nephew James who is a big fan and had seen the first two installments. I handed the blogging reigns to him and here's what he said:
"I thought the movie was a great wrap up to the three 'The Hobbit'
movies. I loved the way it was presented and I especially loved the use of
digital effects. Although there was something that bothered me a bit
with the movie... at times it simply has too much going on. The original 'The Lord of the Rings' had two different story lines going for most of
the three movies. This gave an interesting range of perspectives but at a point in
this final 'The Hobbit' movie there was simply too much going on and I was just
getting confused. Apart from that small issue I really enjoyed the movie. I
think it was an excellent end to the 'The Hobbit' trilogy and unlike most other
prequels, it linked incredibly smoothly into the first 'The Lord of the Rings'. I
would highly recommend this movie to anyone who likes a bit of action and
fantasy."
I guess this can all be summarized as, if you liked 'The Lord of the Rings' and the first two installments of 'The Hobbit', you will probably really like this but probably will see it regardless of the reviews. If you haven't seen any of them, don't know anything about the story etc, you will be mighty confused jumping on the bandwagon at this point but entertained nonetheless!
It's getting mixed reviews. Here's a great one from The Wall Street Journal and here's a pretty bad one from The Atlantic.
It's getting mixed reviews. Here's a great one from The Wall Street Journal and here's a pretty bad one from The Atlantic.
Trailer here.
Opens in cinemas on Boxing Day.