Hobbit reviews: post them here!

[mithrand1r]

Originally Posted by Ben

Have you seen the new movie? Give us your report!

Positives:

• Movie kept the general feel of the Hobbit
  
• Costumes, scenery and music well done
  
• Martin Freeman well chosen as Bilbo
  
• Elrond much better in this film than LOTR.
  
• Demonstrating Smaug's destruction and take over of lonely mountain did a good job to set the movie in motion.
  
• Although not from the Hobbit, the pale orc was a nice touch. I thought the wooden hand was odd.
  
• The pacing overall was good. I did not get the impression that things were being rushed. Some of the battles were overly long and overblown, but that is PJs style. Hopefully the additions to the films will not detract from the Hobbit.

Negatives:

• Elves were portrayed to not provide any assistance against Smaug, which I assume was done to play up the animosity between Elves and Dwarves.
  
  Although close by ME standards the wood elves were still about a 3-5 days march from their home in Mirkwood to the Lonely mountain. If Smaug's attack was as sudden and devastating as the Hobbit indicates then it would not be practical to expect the wood elves to be on hand to fight/repel the dragon.
  
  While the wood Elves might be a force to reckon with in their woodland home, is it realistic to expect them to be able to assist the dwarves with military might against a dragon?
  
  While it may be good to play up the animosity between Elves and Dwarves I think it was awkwardly done in the film. I would have preferred to just let them say at some point in the film that there was some animosity between the two groups and not go into the reasons why.
  
• It was not necessary to portray the Dwarves as slobs at the dinner table. I thought it bad enough (though minor) that several of the Dwarves were being used for cheap gags as members from a Monty Python sketch.
  
• I agree with GrayMouser -- the original Troll scene was better in the Hobbit
  
• The Dwarves dislike of food at Elrond's house was annoying. Are elves vegetarian? Do dwarves really not eat fruits and vegetables? It was a poor attempt at humor.
  
• Radagast reminded me too much of Tim the Enchanter. I think they portrayed him too comically. I did not like the rabbits much. However, since so little is written about Radagast this would be complaining about things added that were not mentioned in the story.
  
• From the battle in Goblin town it appears that the laws of physics do not apply.
  
• Funny how Bilbo escaped notice with Goblins surrounding him. While it does add to the bit about Hobbits able to be unnoticed and quiet, this was difficult to believe (even in a fantasy film).
  
• Battle scenes in general were overblown and longer than needed. Although I now expect this from PJ&co.
  
• Although minor, I agree with azalea -- It would have been nicer to see Gandalf push him out in time for meeting with the Dwarves at the Green Dragon Inn.
  
• Although minor, the portrayal of some of the dwarves as fools from a Monty Python sketch was annoying. (Especially since they were not portrayed that way in The Hobbit)

Overall, it is a good adaptation of The Hobbit. I give 8 of 10 stars.
As others stated, the film could have trimmed about 30-45 minutes off the film to make a tighter less bloated film. I did not mind the length, but I can see how som people would consider the film to be too long.

Areas I would consider for trimming:
Orc attack before Rivendell
Length of battles in general
The Orc scene on weathertop (I am assuming it is weathertop) after the failed orc attack before rivendell.
The stone giants.