Disgusting

Rating: 5/10 (18 December 2012)

This review is going to sound harsh, so before i begin, I am an avid fan of fantasy literature, especially High fantasy, and The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are of course central to that genre. So i take them very seriously. This movie has made it very clear that Jackson failed utterly to grasp the hobbit. I expected certain additions, like events involving the white council and the like, but other things were not only absurd, they were inexcusable. Radagast's appearance in the movie an addition to begin with, his depiction bordered on the offensive. While not quite from the same cloth as Gandalf or Sauruman, the appearance he does make in the Fellowship of the Ring book suggests that he was of a fairly serious demeanor and has little patience people, but is not silly or befuddled in any way. The suggestion in the intro in the movie, that Thranduil payed any sort of homage to Thror, is beyond absurd. As is the idea that Thror had developed any sort of madness. No Elflord, even a lord of the Moriquendi like Thranduil would ever give anything like fealty or homage to a dwarf. To a particular fan of the books like myself, the suggestion is offensive. Next, Azog the Goblin (Goblins and orcs are by and large the same race, but goblins have lived beneath the mountains longer and tend to be more hunched over) was killed by Thorin at the battle of Moria, and it was a certainty. His addition was among the most unacceptable changes in the movie. Jackson shows clear disregard for who should be alive and who should be dead. Now, Bilbo and the dwarfs. That fact that some of the dwarfs did not have beards, or had short beards, is stupid. One of the distinguishing features of dwarfs in Tolkien's mythos are their long beards, regardless of age. Another distinguishing feature of dwarfs is their stubbornness and pride. About half of the dwarfs in the movie are depicted acceptably, the others are silly or bizarre. In regards to Bilbo himself, I feel that Martin freeman simply did not feel like Bilbo should have. It should be remembered that Bilbo was in his 50's when the Hobbit starts, something and Jackson, and Martin, fail to display in his demeanor. Frankly, anyone who truly loves the books, should not like this movie.