Don't Change My Movies

I went to go see The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug with my mom yesterday. I have so many mixed feelings about the movie. I finally read the book last year, which was after I had already seen the first movie so I didn't realize how many liberties Jackson took with the story line. I understand wanting to make more money and splitting the story into three movies (even though I'm not fond of that decision), but adding so much extra stuff was totally unnecessary. For one, The Hobbit is supposed to be a children's book and is very much written as one. The book is shorter than any of The LOTR trilogy and, although the story is complex, the writing is simple. Adding all this fluff to the story seemed to distract from what I loved about the book to begin with.

Seriously go home. We don't want you here.

I know movies aren't always going to be exactly the same as the books, which makes it particularly difficult to judge one without comparing it to the other. Yes The Hobbit itself was a good movie, but not when compared to the book. The story has plenty of action on it's own without adding in all the orc battles along the way. Not to mention all the extra characters Jackson seemed to think were necessary. Don't get me wrong, I really liked Tauriel (and all the extra action Aidan Turner got during this movie) but if she wasn't needed in the book she shouldn't have been in the movie.

I can't deny that she kicked serious ass.

I guess for me the thing I care about most when it comes to book to movie adaptations is staying true to the main story line. I envisioned certain things like the woodland elves and some of the settings differently, but everyone imagines fictional worlds in their own ways. I don't mind if little details are changed or if you leave parts out because they would make the movie too long, or it's too hard to explain everything within the confines of the film. But I will automatically distrust a movie that changes important endings (cough My Sisters Keeper) or adds in completely random main characters.

This part was breathtaking.

Spoilers: My two favorite parts of the movie were when Legolas is fighting the orcs in Lake-town and he stops to look at the camera to wipe the blood from his nose. All I could think of at this moment was the line from Dodgeball when Ben Stiller's character says "no one makes me bleed my own blood." And the part when Smaug is just waking up and Bilbo turns around to take a knee.  I about lost it laughing in the theater during both of those scenes.

Have you seen The Desolation of Smaug? What were your thoughts on the film?

-S