The Hobbit the book is a neat, concise grand adventure
packed into 310 pages. An aperitif for the main event. The Hobbit the film is another matter
altogether. Sprawling and a tad long winded, it has more padding than Robin
William’s fat suit in Mrs.Doubtfire.
Running at 166mins might be acceptable if the whole tale was
being told but those damn money grabbing, hand rubbing film execs have made it
into a three parter. That’s right folks; you’re talking around about 9 hours to
tell a story that is 310 pages long. Let’s do the movie maths. So going by the
old rule of thumb that 1 page of script = 1 minute of running time (there are
exceptions of course, but let’s say it’s a rough guideline) and let’s say the
next two films will probably stay within the running time of 3 hours (180mins) sooooo
countdown clocks at the ready, I’ll take 3 small and 2 big please Carol. It
works out at 540 mins running time for all three movies, making the script at
about the 540 page mark….really? REALLY? To tell a book, which with all its
flourished and descriptive words, only runs in at 310 pages?
Sorry that was a tad long winded but a big pet peeve is
directors that can’t trim the fat. And on that note another pet peeve is
throwing in some gimmicky new technique for the hell of it. Peter Jackson has
shot all the new Hobbit films on 48 frames per second, double the average frame
speed of a regular movie. He done this in an attempt to counterbalance the 3D,
to make the experience more immersive but it has nearly had the exact opposite
effect. Making the viewer feel detached and giving the film an altogether cheap
look and feel. This Film Fryer- Upper
went to a 3D HFR (higher frame rate) screening, which could be to blame for the
bad taste left in my mouth after viewing. The masses seem to say the best way
to watch this film is in the regular 2D setting.
Take away all the foibles and miss steps and you still can’t
help but feel The Hobbit is lacking in something grander. Secondary characters
aren’t well developed and even though the beginning is gripping, the pace is
off kilter. In these altogether dark few months Film Fry Up’s advice is to don’t
leave the house, turn on the telly, stick on any of The Lord of the Rings
movies, eat all the Christmas Chocolate and enjoy a J.R.R. Tolkien story told
right.
XXX
