High hopes, not fulfilled...

Rating: 5/10 (20 December 2013)

Having literally been counting the months down to this release, I finally watched the film at the IMAX in 3D. An avowed JRR Tolkien and Peter Jackson fan, this was always going to be a difficult one to deliver, having set the bar so high in the previous films. I so wanted to enjoy this but it was just not to be, even when viewed through such "positively biased" eyes as mine. OK, the original Hobbit had a few mistakes in my opinion; the "mockney" accents and dialogue of the Stone Trolls seemed to be aimed at the under 10's and the misjudged song of the Goblin King aside, there was still enough quality material to keep you hooked, captivated and entranced by the sheer beauty of the language, the cinematography and the plot. This, however, was a different animal. Whilst, still on occasion, certain sets and visuals were almost breathtakingly stunning, including the detail in the rain soaked opening scene at Bree, the bulk of the movie felt like a cross between a made for TV sci-fi and a super lifelike video game. New characters introduced failed to have much depth, and the inclusion of Stephen Fry, playing Stephen Fry was a huge mistake on the same scale as Eli Roth playing the Bear Jew in Inglorious. Parts of the action seemed to have elements of incredible reality quickly intermingled with clear CGI falseness, which just made it difficult to watch. Most of the fantasy scenes in previous offerings were successful largely because they were believable - these just felt false through and through. I could go on....The accents of certain characters, the choice of casting in parts, the decision to have the dragon talk at such length and in such a style (think Ka the snake in Jungle Book) was all just wrong, wrong, wrong. I will be there in 12 months to watch the final conclusion and hope it proves a fitting end to the Trilogy. LOTR and the Hobbit IS undoubtedly a fantasy tale; but that does not mean that it needs to be reduced to a version of a Harry Potter film to make it work.