A grotesque beginning for a new saga

Rating: 4/10 (27 December 2012)

Poor Tolkien. Poor Peter Jackson. I am so sorry to see the result of this work. The bankruptcy and budget issues around this production is evident and made me realise how wonderful The Lord of Rings is. Unfortunately there is almost nothing I can praise for the moment and I'll enumerate the most difficult issues around this poor realization.
Screenplay: First 4 exiting minutes with great and known actors from the saga, I felt happy rubbing my hands and prepared for a great adventure. But then 25 minutes later still in Bilbo's home, presenting the dwarfs in an ever repeating feast wasn't an adult enjoyment and I kind of felt that the movie was rather designed for kids collecting figurines in a happy meal. And that's exactly what happened throughout the movie. Trolls are no longer tuff, kings joke before dying, goblins look like moppets, obvious action sequences, dialogues devoid of magic and depth and the attention of the viewer mainly caught by farts, burps and scattered, missed, failed resolutions...
Make-up: Not the same team that worked for the L.O.R. but for King Kong, we see a low budget un-believable group of dwarfs and goblins. I've never remarked how make-up is a key element to be able to be drawn into the story. The superficiality of the make up made me remember over and over that this is an ordinary production and most of all, just a movie.
Music: Howard Shore couldn't keep the same intensity successfully held for L.O.R. Yes, the new theme is related and yet not as effective. Even the already known theme doesn't accompany the sequences. There is no effective resolution on critical moments of victory or grief. The mixing and mastering have lost the unique touch of fantasy and glory. Not only me but people around me didn't feel deeply moved like in any of the three previous movies (Moria, Rohan, Cirill river entry to Gondor, Lorothien, countless more sequences)
Colour treatment: Sunrises and sunsets are saturated to the point of a cartoon-like superficiality. Maybe the 3D treatment didn't help in this regard, in that case I'll watch it again and edit the review in the future.
Casting: The same actors look disconnected from the story, there's no intensity and this might come from a tired and stressed director in my opinion.
The only thing working throughout the entire film is Gandalf. With Excellent performance, make-up, all around Gandalf is amazing and inspiring. Five stars to Gandalf. Hugo Weaving's and Kate Blanchet did a nice job alone. Elrond and Galadriel's makeup is also refined and the character traits remain the same as in their previous participations. Another great sequence is when Bilbo meets Gollum. Well acted, interesting dialogues, like in another movie. But all this counts too few to add more than two stars to this realization.
It is all a bit sad. Even if Peter Jackson's version of TLOR never existed, this work just failed to outshine Tolkien's story or at least lead us to a fantastic film for all ages. Not recommended. Let's hope that the sequel in 2013 and 2014 have a better outcome, a movie worth remembering.