Somewhere Over the Rainbow the Hobbits Look Funny

 Disappointment...

Like many fans of LOTR, I couldn't wait for the Hobbit to come out in theatres. I counted the days until it's release and marked the week it was released by reading the book and watching the old cartoon version. Then the day finally came! We arrived early out our favorite theatre and loaded up on an obscene amount of popcorn and a vat of soda, we scurried up the isle where we managed to get really good seats.

Right off, when they started singing (which is in the book), I noticed something about the film...it had a different feel to it than LOTR. I told myself this was because it was, after all, a different story. But it kept nagging me. Scenes seemed overly drug out and pointless. I felt distracted- like the magician Peter Jackson was diverting out attention lamely so we wouldn't notice the lack of content.

Half way through the movie the nagging movie snob in my brain had drug me down to her level and I began to pick apart every scene. Where did this white orc come from? Good god- the CGI....make it stop. The sets really started to look like...well...sets. the magic disappeared before my eyes and I could see the humbug behind the curtain. 

I drew this a couple years ago when  I first heard they were thinking of doing a new Oz movie. Oz Art by OzK.

The lighting was weird, especially towards the end when they were fighting the white orc and his band of baddies. The orange glow meant to be from the fires was all wrong, the plastic tree was all wrong...Thoren's nose was all wrong.  I told myself it was because it was meant to be watched in 3D but because I can't see movies in 3D we don't waste our money going to them.

So, we bought the movie. I just knew it would look better on our TV than it did in theatres, but I was wrong. The movie, while beautiful and bright in some areas, seemed cheep and Wal-Martish in others. Unfortunately, I had the same feeling about Disney's Oz movie. I had waited for that movie for more than half my life only to be horribly and utterly disappointed. I highly doubt that I will follow the franchise if one is drummed up. I will follow the Hobbit however, but I sincerely hope the next is done with a better eye.  

 I recently found out  that The Hobbit was shot with a different frame rate than other movies....fucking put it back. And how about some non fucking CGI special effects. Stop being lazy. Jim  Hensen created entire universes out of felt and wire that made you believe you could go there if you just knew the right words. It's time to bring back the magic and good story telling Hollywood.