The Hobbit Reaction Post

[author_by_night]

So I saw the first part of The Hobbit today.

First let me say that I'm not a LOTR expert, and that I last read The Hobbit years ago. So I speak carefully of inaccuracies.

I definitely feel this movie was not one for people who love the books and want a faithful adaptation. It's very much for people who were fans of the LOTR movies - maybe alone, or maybe as companion pieces. (I eventually resigned myself to being a fan of the HP movies as companion pieces myself.) Frodo is in the prologue, and an older, wiser Bilbo is the narrator. It does serve a purpose to people who might not really recall Bilbo, as he wasn't really in the movies. For someone like me who was introduced to the books through TH, however, it was a little jarring. Still, I understood why they did it. Other liberties were taken. We're given backstories that were never mentioned, at least  in The Hobbit, but I've never read The Simillarion (nor has the LOTR fan I went with) so perhaps we're missing something there. And Galadriel... did we even hear of her in the first book?  I don't think they hurt the movie, but they didn't add much to it either.  And the Saruman part would have had more of a punch had we not been hinted towards his future evil.

Martin Freeman did not disappoint as Bilbo; he definitely was not a Frodo 1.0, from what I could tell, and I liked that. His character development rang true for me. Also, the guy who played Kili? Yummy. And I no longer picture him as female. (When I read the book all those years ago, I somehow thought Fili and Kili were women at first. Then they were called men and I was all "wait, huh?")

 I may actually re-read the book, because I'd like to go back to the original story.  

Comments

[author-by-night.livejournal.com]

You know, I may need to take back and say the opposite of what I said earlier, upon reading your thoughts and some other people's posts. Maybe it was that the movie was for hardcore fans, actually? Because my Dad went with me, and he calls himself a big fan and shared my sentiments, but... I think there's even a difference between really hardcore fans, fans who really like the series and remember things more basic fans wouldn't. (The last two being really casual fans and then people who mostly - or only - just know the movies.) I mean, in a way, it's almost like if in the Harry Potter movies they'd had Remus and Sirius have a long scene together. (ETA: Not necessarily in a slashy way! Although I have friends who would've been beside themselves with joy if they'd done that.) Hardcore fans like me would've been thrilled, but I think even some fairly big fans I know would've been a little more "meh" about it. Not a perfect comparison, but hopefully I'm making sense.


All the backstory and wider political situation was filled in later after LOTR came into existence. That's why you don't really see much of it in the original Hobbit.

Ahh, that makes sense now. And I think in general the way they opened it helped ease us into the story. Because I mean, even I hadn't really read The Hobbit in years, so I was only faintly familiar with Bilbo's character - it was a different way to be introduced to him. :) Plus, there is something kind of artistic about Frodo stepping out so Bilbo can step in...