The sad story about The Hobbit franchise

Rating: 6/10 (20 December 2014)

I have just watched the new video game "The Hobbit: The Battle of the five armies" at the theater and tried to stop myself from writing about it, because this video game does not deserve this attention, but I still am going to do this in memory of Peter Jackson's "The Lord of the rings" which was truly the reason why I gave the new trilogy a chance.
"Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for."
And this quote says it all...
But let me rephrase that. I have just witnessed how Peter Jackson (due to his own meanings or pushed by the new studio bossing around) has beheaded the little faith I had in him. The third Hobbit installment brought me to laughter, anger and almost to tears because of its outright stupidity and insipidness. And to stop generalizing, I'm going to put some points in front. First of all Peter Jackson has indeed committed crimes against the true story and characters from the children's book "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again". Too many people have seen this coming since we saw the first movie (which by the way was the least miserable from the three pieces). The imaginative character of Tauriel and the ludicrous relationship between the elf and the dwarf Kili is such a "gem" in this set of tragic mistakes that I must not say more. Mr. Jackson thoughtfully incorporated made-up parts in the story which didn't only made these movies look silly, but they destroyed his own credibility as a director loyal to Tolkien and to the fans. Yes indeed, three films will make much more money than one film. But this will never bring Jackson to the high place which he held in the hearts of the fans and in the minds of the critics. "The Return of the King" took all 11 Oscars for which it was nominated namely BECAUSE it was true to the books. J.R.R. Tokien's writings are true mirrors of the human nature and history and are indeed beautiful examples of how a person can relay humanity. None such occurred in at least the second and the third Hobbit films. I think that we saw a fantasy equivalent to the Avengers' stupidity. Still "The Avengers" was mostly true to its origins. Which is why "The Battle of the Five armies" cannot win the audience only with perfect character design, major battles, wonderful music and brief winks towards "The Lord of the Rings". The intended soul of the new trilogy - the friendship, the loyalty to comrades and keeping the given promise - were vaguely affecting the viewers back at the theater. Not only because the director and the actors did not meant what they were showing us, but also because it was NOT true. There is no such big emphasis in the book on these highlighted moments. Thus there is such a logical fiasco in front of us.
Maybe I am too harsh on this movie and on Peter Jackson. Maybe I am just a fan of Tolkien who feels hurt, because the book material of J.R.R. Tolkien was treated like a source of money. But I think that as Sam said before in The Two Towers - "Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why." And Jackson just had to do one movie true to the book. Nothing else. Maybe it would have been less successful than the previous trilogy. I think that it would have not earned any awards at all. But it would have been still an interesting piece to be seen and the true fans of Tolkien's work would have liked it. As a matter of fact I think that most of the people would have liked compared to the situation now. The true story is always emotionally overwhelming and mindfully compelling. So what am I holding onto? The good story? The loyalty to the book? No, I am holding onto the truth of creativity and artistry. There is some good in this world and it's worth fighting for!