The Desolation of Modern cinema

Rating: 4/10 (29 December 2013)

Though I'm willing to give the movies a bit of lee-way in terms of adaptation. No movie based on a book is going to be 100% faithful to it's source material, at least not word-for-word. I quite enjoyed the previous "Rings" movies. They were expertly directed by Jackson. He was able to retain the spirit of the piece - and much of it's narrative. Sure, it had it's problems; a little too much CGI in places, some wooden scenes, but overall it was Tolkien's work. With Jackson's second foray into the world of "Middle-Earth", many of the problems with translating books to screen have reared their ugly heads. "The Hobbit" has been ripe for the big screen treatment for years Sadly, much of what made the "LOTR" trilogy charming has been lost in "The Hobbit". My first issue lies with Jackson's choice to make a relatively short novel (If a novel it is) into a 3 part, sprawling epic. This worked with "The Lord of the Rings" because it was, ultimately, a trilogy. "LOTR" is dense with character, story, themes, and back story. "The Hobbit" is a much less fleshed out work and is substantially less complicated than it "sequel". The books share characters and settings - as Tolkien created a World with a rich history, language, peoples et al. "The Hobbit" is more of a traditional fairy-story whereas "LOTR" is an epic. There is a LOT of filler in these movies and it feels like filler. What was already a rather threadbare narrative is now stretched to the point of tearing. Characters are "expanded" or cameo, dialog and scenes are conjured from inference or behave in a manner not consistent with their character. If Jackson had tightened up the story, dropped some of the "wink and nudge" moments, and focused on delivering a solidly told, compelling work more faithful to the spirit of the piece perhaps I would have less of a problem with it.
My biggest issue lies with the ridiculous action scenes. Sure,"LOTR" audiences responded to the "cool" action scenes, but they always felt, at least to me, to be the weakest parts of the movies. Now, i'm not talking about the battle scenes themselves but to the obviously CGI- rendered scenes. Used sparingly they can be a nice treat during the action; a memorable moment or bit of fun. However, making almost EVERY scene into an impossible display of acrobatics, dumb luck, and silly cliché only serves to make the rest of the film feel silly as well. "LOTR" didn't focus on the cheap thrills to propel the story, and tried to bring some genuine emotion to scenes. "The Hobbit" tries to juice every bit of cheesy sentiment, action, and spectacle. It's almost insulting, as a fan to be shown this sort of cornball, exaggerated drivel. There are "dick", snot, and drug jokes, overly long and heavy-handed moments of ominousness, scenes of brooding, etc. Nothing feels genuine. I was highly disappointed in these first two "Hobbit" films. I expected a continuation of Jackson's excellent "LOTR" trilogy work. Instead we were treated to an extended exercise is "focus grouped" nonsense. Jackson seems to have left behind ALL of what worked in the "LOTR" trilogy and decided to give the audience what they've come to expect from today's big budget films: Too much CGI, too little story, thin characters, and plenty of lowest common denominator-style "thrills". I found myself thinking, "Are you kidding me?" and "Wow. That is incredibly dumb".
Jackson is trying very hard to make a 6 part film series based on Tolkien's work. Sadly, instead of 6 good movies, he has delivered 3 solid films, and 2 mediocre films. I have NO hope for "The Hobbit part 3". He is padding these films with so much "LOTR" lore and story threads that it is having an adverse effect on what "The Hobbit" is. Yes, the stories are related, but can exist without being duct-taped together - and that's as skillfully integrated as they feel.
Jackson should have learned a lesson from the last prequel trilogy and side-stepped the pitfalls therein. But it feels as if Jackson decided to follow Lucas' footsteps. "The Hobbit" trilogy has failed to capture the feeling or look of "LOTR". It's both surprising and disappointing that Jackson could go from winning the best picture Oscar for LOTR 3 to making such a disappointing, unworthy follow-up. what's worse is Jackson had everything laid out for him. Yes, there was adaptation to be done, but it was already there for him. All he had to do was follow the path he had tread previously. Sure, technology is better now, and new techniques are available, but they should only serve to make these movies better - they seem to have hurt them. I'm not sure how Jackson could have made a WORSE film, but he did. The practical effects should have been a priority over the overdone CGI - both in characters and in scenery. It takes a fantasy film and makes it even more unreal. The CGI - like in many films as of late - destroys it's own "willing suspension of disbelief" by making what we are seeing so utterly unrealistic, it causes the viewer to mentally check-out. Like I said, a bit of this stuff - used sparingly - works and can be memorable. Trying to create an entire film this way just makes it unwatchable.