Hobbit Movie
Jan. 4th, 2015 09:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
emma_in_dreamSo, I saw the Hobbit movie. And I liked it despite the fact that it has no plot.
So, spoilers, though not really since the book came out in the 1930s...
My big take away from the movie is that it is unsettling and unresolved, partly because bits just weren't resolved (what happens to Tauriel? where does Legolas spend the next sixty years? why do we not see Thorin's grave?) and partly because it was fundamentally unresolvable.
The *Lord of the Rings* trilogy was satisfying because it was a fight for a purpose, against a clearly evil foe. If people died in the fight, it had meaning.
In *The Hobbit* there's a huge fight, but for what? The dwarves have a motivation and I get that they would be willing to die to regain their traditional homeland, but what is the elves' motivation? Why on earth would the rank and file of the elvish soldiers be willing to die so Thranduil can get some jewellery? Why not just run away? I would (or so I like to think).
And why do the men get involved in this battle? They literally just arrived there by chance, as refugees and instead of running away again they decide to join in. Why? To what end? To achieve what? How could this possibly be more important than tending the wounded and finding food for their children?
Not to mention the total lack of motivation for the orcs. Thorin mentions that he sees 'goblin mercenaries'. What, goblins who have chosen fighting compared to their many other career options? Goblins who chose not to be interior designers, or teachers, or chefs? And why do these goblin mercenaries attack? I mean, they were hiding up near Raven Hill, no one bothering them, why not keep hiding until the battle was over?
My basic take away as I watched the armies manoeuvre was that all these units were made up of individuals who were about to have their lives thrown away for no good reason. Why not just run off? (Huh, now I think about it, 2014, anniversary of the Great War beginning).
And, of course, the last sight of the movie is Bilbo, alone with the ring, and the viewer knows that he gets to live alone until the much more serious events of the war of the Ring.
Actually, this is basically WWI and the ending is Bilbo having survived but you know that WWII is coming.
So, spoilers, though not really since the book came out in the 1930s...
My big take away from the movie is that it is unsettling and unresolved, partly because bits just weren't resolved (what happens to Tauriel? where does Legolas spend the next sixty years? why do we not see Thorin's grave?) and partly because it was fundamentally unresolvable.
The *Lord of the Rings* trilogy was satisfying because it was a fight for a purpose, against a clearly evil foe. If people died in the fight, it had meaning.
In *The Hobbit* there's a huge fight, but for what? The dwarves have a motivation and I get that they would be willing to die to regain their traditional homeland, but what is the elves' motivation? Why on earth would the rank and file of the elvish soldiers be willing to die so Thranduil can get some jewellery? Why not just run away? I would (or so I like to think).
And why do the men get involved in this battle? They literally just arrived there by chance, as refugees and instead of running away again they decide to join in. Why? To what end? To achieve what? How could this possibly be more important than tending the wounded and finding food for their children?
Not to mention the total lack of motivation for the orcs. Thorin mentions that he sees 'goblin mercenaries'. What, goblins who have chosen fighting compared to their many other career options? Goblins who chose not to be interior designers, or teachers, or chefs? And why do these goblin mercenaries attack? I mean, they were hiding up near Raven Hill, no one bothering them, why not keep hiding until the battle was over?
My basic take away as I watched the armies manoeuvre was that all these units were made up of individuals who were about to have their lives thrown away for no good reason. Why not just run off? (Huh, now I think about it, 2014, anniversary of the Great War beginning).
And, of course, the last sight of the movie is Bilbo, alone with the ring, and the viewer knows that he gets to live alone until the much more serious events of the war of the Ring.
Actually, this is basically WWI and the ending is Bilbo having survived but you know that WWII is coming.
