“I suggest a new strategy Bilbo…let the shapeshifter win.”
I’d like to know what was up with Thranduil’s face sorta … melting when he was telling Thorin that he’d faced wyrms himself. I’m also wondering about Tauriel’s glowing during the healing of Kili. Kili was nearly dead, and (assuming I remember correctly) a Morgul blade is supposed to bring the victim into the wraith world. When Frodo was nearly over the line, he saw Glorfindel blazing, and we know that’s because Glorfindel had seen the light of the Trees. Sylvan’s never did, so how is it that Tauriel is glowing?
I spotted Stephen Colbert, too. Usually I miss things like that, so I was pleased I was able to pick him out.
And Smaug was … magnificent. I could tell it was Cumberbatch’s voice.
(And yeah, kinda wondering about the “triangle” business. That seems more than a little odd.)
Thanks for the Arachnophobe’s Guide to “Hobbit” Film II ! With the time-frames as described, I reckon it will be well worth going.
I wish I weren’t this way about spiders – actually, small ones don’t bother me. I recognise that spiders are fascinating and accomplished creatures; and in my country of residence, there’s no kind of spider that can hurt you in any way. As is well known, though, this stuff is not rational…
Unlike the first film - mostly JRR’s work with some “Prequel to Jackson’s LOTR” thrown in, this film flips that around and has a lot more of the prequel feeling. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.
FWIW I liked the first one better.
It was nice to see him finally get his ass-kicked for a change…even though one could argue his fight with Bolg was a draw
While Bilbo sleeps through the Battle of Five Armies in the book, I have no doubt that we’ll get to watch 2 or 3 hours of it.
(I haven’t seen Part 2 yet, but my biggest problems with Part 1 were (a) it wasn’t about Bilbo; and (b) too many battles. From what I’ve heard, I’m hopeful that Part 2 will overcome those objections, but I’m sure that Part 3 won’t.)
Did you know that the Necromancer’s voice is Cumberbatch, as well? (Speaking of a voice buried under FX…)
So’s the Necormancer’s body. 
In watching the credits, I saw that the second unit director was Andy Serkis. Cool. 
The movie was fun but I will say it again.
I hope to live long enough to someday see the Hobbit made into a movie, not just the inspiration for a 3 movie series with nearly no relation to the word of the Professor.
Who did he play?
“Nearly no relation?”. I mean, they’ve taken a few liberties with the plot, but not that many. You could watch with the book in your lap and find pretty much every scene in the book in the movie, in order, as you went (though not vice-versa). Certainly if they tried to change the names and make the same movie saying it had “nearly no relation” to The Hobbit, the Tolkien estate would sue them six-ways from Sunday.
Anyways, I’m sure once the third film comes out, someone on the internets will make a fan cut with the extra stuff taken out, and you’ll get a pretty straightforward Hobbit movie.
Yeah, he was a second unit director on the whole thing. He wasn’t available for re-shoots(well, more like additional shooting) this last year, though, because he was filming the second Planet of the Apes movie.
I think the filmed his Gollum scenes first so he was free to help direct the rest.
He was the Laketown spy lighting a pipe.
And any Dwarf Fortress player will tell you it needs to be a two-step process to work. First you pour magma on the monster, then you pour water to flash-freeze it. Kills even magma-immune creatures.
Nice depiction of the lever-activated dwarven perpetual motion waterwheel engine however.
I saw the HFR version (didn’t see the first movie), and maybe I was imagining it, but I could tell the difference. It felt like watching one of those TV demos where the TV increases the framerate.
The mayor of Lake Town felt too Monty Python-like to me, though.
Yes, I basically agree with this take.
The barrel scene needs to be removed entirely. Walking out of the theater I mentioned “Wile E Coyote stuff” to my wife and she knew exactly what I was referring to. If Peter Jackson wants to go jerk off to elven acrobatics, maybe he could keep that private?
And ending it without killing Smaug? Come on, guys! It’s bad enough to bog the movie down with extraneous bullshit. It’s even worse when the bullshit takes precedence over the climax.
The LOTR movies are among the best movies ever made. The Hobbit movies are merely fun, and do no favors to the source material.
Sounds about right. I have one of those upped-framerate TVs and have gotten used to it rather than digging around in to the settings to change it; it looks right to me. I saw the first Hobbit in HFR, and it had the same sort of look to it.
And yes, the mayor (what was he called? The Master?) was a bit too cartoonish, as was his Snidely Whiplash functionary.
Hear, hear. My eyes rolled as much as the barrel. Also, what is it with Legolas and surfing on things? 
CA-Ching!
Also, I thought Kili and Thorin were the same dwarf, until he told himself he couldn’t go to the mountain. What?