Duck, it's the Film Curmudgeon! (Non-spoilery short overview of The Hobbit.)

[amanuensis1]

The Hobbit: Way, way, WAY too long. I was writhing. There's some genuinely charming stuff in there, but most scenes are five times as long as they should be, and every major scene is played out five times over. Pacing, Peter, PACING. The Hobbit is an entertaining, nicely-paced book. Why bog it down so badly with all that extra filler?

(Except The Riddle Game. The Riddle Game was fabulous. The movie should have been The Riddle Game plus one hour. And that's all it should have been.)

My suggestion: stay home, wait for someone to cobble together a heavily edited-down version. You won't, but if you did I think you'd be happier.

Peter, you've got a chance to correct this with the next two. Edit them down. Don't pull a Lucas on us.

(Nothing to do with the film content, but I absolutely hated the 48 fps release. It looked like videotape. Please do not let this be a trend that lasts, ugh.)

Comments

[rina-riku.livejournal.com]

I am also one of those that enjoy the extended versions of the movies. I loved most of the Hobbit, except the intro. The intro was just too long, and it really should have started SPOILER!!!
SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!SPOILER!!!



"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit" instead of the silly flashback scene that it started as with the birthday party and everything. I also have the feeling they are going to end the second film with a flashback to that scene.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I could have done without the epic Smaug intro, but I still thought that part worked. I liked nearly all of the Frodo-Bilbo framing sequence too. It didn't start getting "wait, this is TOO LONG" until we got to the dwarves arriving and the way that was so very drawn out. That's when I started itching for a pair of scissors.