oh man. I was pretty underwhelmed by the first trailer but this looks much better. Though I do find it odd that the CGI doesn't really look any better than the LOTR movies even after 10 years (and with the budget being more than double). And it's also odd that it looks like Jackson is making some of the orcs CGI this time. They looked perfect when they were make-up on a human
True, I loved the time and effort put into ORCS with all the armour. I hope he sticks with the formula when it comes to large armies. I believe he got a group of guys together then duplicated them when they showed large army shots if I remember correctly from the bonus features.
Wait ALL of the orcs are CGI now? Even the close-ups? Sigh...
A part of me wishes del Toro would've stayed onboard. I really like his animatronics/makeup for his creatures and it would've been really interesting to see his take on middle-earth
Yes this is one of my biggest problems. I loved LOTR for its set pieces and proper use of ORC's Uru'kai costumes. Now everything will feel like a Star Wars prequel like movie. I joked awhile back that a good hour of the film will probably take place in Hobbiton and it looks like it most likely will.
I'm much more interested in how they handle Smaug... and if he'll look like Benedict Cumberbatch somehow, lol.
Yeah I'm weary about this as well. I know he's the most expensive creature ever made in film so I'm hoping its paid off well and doesn't come off cheasy as hell especially with the dialogue. I think PJ knows what he's doing though.
So I saw the movie last night in IMAX for the 48 FPS.
I must say the 3D was great and the 48 FPS didn't ruin the magic like some people said, in fact it... wasn't really all that noticable. Sadly my theatre didn't get the special Hobbit themed 3D glasses and I got stuck with the shitty theatre ones.
I even got some sweet posters for being at the midnight IMAX release
Now about the movie. I honestly thought it was great. The story works as an actual prequel... in that you see Ian Holm and Elijah Wood before the events of LOTR so I think you could theoretically watch the Hobbit first without problem. I dunno how that will tie up at the end of the third movie.
The effects were great. And while I agree the Orcs should have been just prostetics (because they looked similar to how they looked in LOTR) the goblins were more a different breed this time, taking on a more... cartoony look I guess.
The pacing was good. The random stuff they added was a mixed bag... Radagast seemed a bit forced but I assume he will return next movie, not entirely sure.
The movie had an overly lighter tone than LOTR that's for sure. It was sort of an LOTR meets the Goonies sort of romp. And if you don't go in there thinking it'll be LOTR you should be fine.
The movie had some great moments and some amusing references to the world behind the hobbit and simarillion stuff was sometimes vaguely mentioned
Spoiler
+
(in an amusing scene Gandalf mentions the blue wizards but then admits he'd forgotten their names, alluding to the fact that Tolkien never states what names they have and you never see them, lol)
I say it's a definite watch. While it starts slow, FOTR started slow too so who knows where it could go from here. I have high hopes though.
