THAT WAS SO GOOD.
PJ sure made use of his artistic freedom. They changed so many details, sometimes it really annoyed me. I understand the Galadriel / Saruman scene as a part of fan service, but it really just shouldn't have been there.
But overall.. Great. HFR 3D makes for a considerable gain in quality. I'm not a huge fan of 3D cinemas, but this movie proved the potential of the technology. The soundtrack was great and built on the original LotR score, which I liked. I found Rivendell a bit less cheesy looking, I liked the goblins, and I especially loved Gollum's appearance.
AND OMG, EREBOR AND ALL THE SCENERIES LOOKED AMAZING.
HAPPY.
Gollum: Love.
Bilbo: Love.
Radagast: Love. Radagast Story: Not Sure.
Dwarves & Gandalf: Not Sure.
Elves: Love.
Necromancer: Very strange body language. No like.
HFR+3D: Like, I think. (Looks like actually my tiny favourite cinema is the only one in town offering HFR 😄)
Dale, Erebor, Rivendell, Shire: Love.
Music: Love, but little surprise and few interesting chorus lyrics.
Wargs: Oh no, they looked so promising and wolfish on the first pictures, and now they're just as terrible as in the Lord of the Rings 🙁
Writing: Not entirely convinced. The dialogues often sounded contrived and exaggerated.
Fake pony coats not covering their heads: No like.
Gandalf feigning surprise over the evil residents of Dol Guldur when he actually got Thror's key and map from a dungeon there recently: WTF!
Hedgehog named Sebastian: WTF!
Hobbit feet didn't draw my attention during the movie, but they certainly did in the production videos. Very oversized and very... shapeless. But for the most part, I was very distracted by Freeman's *perfect* acting... he is Bilbo. Watching Bilbo interacting with Gandalf+dwarves (or anyone else) is like watching a bunch of good actors suddenly appearing in the life of a real person you know quite well.
I have found a really good, and really positive article from Forbes reviewing the film.
Thought I'd share it: Click
I wasn't to sure what to think of the whole Azog / Thorin Oakenshield sub-plot, which is obviously completely made up, but this author has a point. Thorin has become a much more rounded character, rather than just a dwarf driven by greed. Although PJ gave many details a twist, it feels like he's been careful to include Middle Earth lore and top off the picture.
Originally posted by Elessea
WTF was going on with the hobbit's feet? They looked much less natural than in previous films.