Okay.  It’s been almost a day since we saw the movie.  Are we going to talk about it, or what?

 

Muse:  Yes.  I’m ready.

You slept in quite a bit today, didn’t you?  Until 1:00 in the afternoon if I can recall correctly….

Muse:  There’s a reason for that.  For the remainder of the night, I kept having these nightmares about Smaug.  I was cornered, and he roasted me alive with his fire….

*sigh*  Is that the only reason?

Muse:  Yes.  I know….It’s pretty dumb, isn’t it?  I have these dreams a lot in some of the mystery books that I read….

Well anyway, let’s get to the movie.

Let’s begin with first impressions.  What did you think of the beginning?  There was the scene where Thorin met up with Gandalf at the Prancing Pony.  I believe that this was put in to tie in this story to Lord of the Rings.

Muse: For me, I liked the beginning.  In adapting this book to a movie, some things like this had to be done.  I had no problem with this at all.

After that, the plot progresses on, and the company of fourteen, who were chased by the Orcs, had to take refuge in Beorn’s house.  Not to spoil too much of the movie, we eventually get to the Lonely Mountain, where Bilbo and the Dwarves are in a race to open the door before the end of Durin’s Day.

Muse:  Let’s go over the differences in the movie, because there are a few differences that infuriate me.

I know.  There were a few things that seemed “off” in the movie.

Muse:  A few?  There were a lot!  One inclusion I hated the most was the addition of Tauriel.  There IS NO Tauriel in the book!  Also, Legolas is not in The Hobbit at all!  Also, Gandalf never goes to Dol Guldur, Kili never gets injured and there is no Ancient Elvish language.  Just Sindarin and then formal Quenyan, of course….

That’s quite a bit of differences!  I knew that Tauriel wasn’t in the movie, and….

Muse:  I’m not done.  In the book, the barrels that everyone travels in have lids that are tightly fastened.  They travel all the way to Lake Town, where Bilbo opens all the barrels. However, in the movie, they hide in barrels covered in fish all the way to Lake Town with the aid of a traveling merchant’s boat.  Some other things that didn’t happen in the book include Azog’s promotion and Smaug being buried underneath all the treasure.  Smaug was also made bigger in the movie.  There are also inter-species love triangles that were NOT in the book at all!  Urr!  Jackson just about ruined it for me….

Alright.  There were a lot of changes in the movie that were not very good.  One redeeming quality was the Smaug scenes….

Muse:  Those scenes were okay, but I HATED all the Dol Guldur scenes!  Gandalf NEVER went there in the book!  It was just a stupid story arc that Jackson decided to include to make the movie appeal more to a casual audience.

I know.  That could fool anyone who has not read any of the books.

Muse:  Exactly!  That’s what infuriates me.  Anyone who has not read the books will not see the story as it should be.  Everyone.  Read the book!  There are so many things wrong with this movie….

Let’s get to the ending.  There was a cliffhanger at the end that really annoyed me.  But in a good way.  After seeing that cliffhanger, I want them to release the next movie immediately!

Muse:  I know.  Let’s move on to the next one and see how many more mistakes they can make….

Overall, I give this movie a 4 out of 5.  The movie cannot be five stars, considering all the mistakes they made with the unnecessary additions….

Muse:  That’s quite generous of you.  I give it a 3 out of 5.  Just good enough to see the next movie.  I would’ve given it a 2, but I’m in a pretty good mood right now….

Thank you for your insight on all the differences.  I really have to go back and read that book again.

Muse:  Please do.  You’re welcome.  I have some more reading to do.  And my Galadriel dress needs to be washed.  It’s stained with popcorn seasoning from last night.  See you tomorrow….

I’ll let you do that.

That’s it for the discussion.  Stay tuned for the review!

Until then, I’ll see you tomorrow!