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Review of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
I quite liked the first Hobbit, though it was worryingly over-stuffed with Christopher Lee cameos and whatnot. The second film on the other hand was all stuffing and no meat, a relentless parade of middling events and characters apparently only there to pay off in the third film. In retrospect, so few of those moments and characters actually do pay off that it makes me dislike the middle film all the more. →
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Review of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
There's a moment in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug where Gandalf has wandered off from the company of dwarves and is creeping his way through an ancient crypt. Discovering an open tomb, he's startled by Radagast the Brown. "Why are we here, Gandalf?" asks Radagast. Good question, I thought; "To set up the next film" appeared to be the answer. →
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Review of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Managing expectations is important; this is not strictly an adaptation of The Hobbit. Instead, it's a prequel to Peter Jackson's adaptation of The Lord of the Rings. This is crucial, because if you go in hoping for a lightweight children's fable, which is more or less what The Hobbit is, you'll find something bloated and overly dark in tone. As a prequel it's a success, though a qualified one. Note: To try and avoid confusion, I'll be referring to the film as An Unexpected Journey, and the book as The Hobbit. →
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King Kong
There's a moment very early on in King Kong that's worth noting. Film director Carl Denham (ably played by Jack Black) is showing some safari footage to a group of producers. As the footage plays out, one of the producers wearily asks "how much more of this is there?", and grimaces when the answer is 'five more reels'. It's worth noting because, after an hour of the film has been and gone and the protaganists are still on their boat, yet to discover Skull Island, that's exactly the question you'll find yourself asking. →