Now Playing: The Hobbit (an unexpected journey)

Caught The Hobbit: an unexpected journey at a noon showing on opening day (pre-ordered tickets and everything; needn’t have bothered as the theatre was far from full). I’m going to be up front: I didn’t like it. I mean, the acting was good and the story is classic, but everything else was just… overkill.

First of all, I was a little wary of the fact that a single book would get more screen time than all of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. That sounded counter-intuitive to me. Once I understood that there were going to be scenes from other Middle Earth books as well, I was ready for much more content and a much slower pace (I mean, there’s a reason no one reads the Silmarillion. I guess I just wasn’t ready enough. Jadek said it best: it felt like a Director’s Cut. Indeed – like a pampered director who has made too much money for his own good.

The next thing I heard was that this was going to be filmed and presented in 48 fps (or HFR) format. What does that mean, you ask? Basically, it’s super-high-tech. I already knew what this looked like – I had seen this treatment first for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in a big-box store. I hated it. It looked unfinished and cheap. In fact, I distinctly remember saying “if this is what Blu-Rays are going to look like, I’ll stick to DVDs.” Thankfully, Blu-Rays continue to have a cinematic feel to them. Jadek warned me that I might not like it; even suggested we see a traditional 2D version. But I didn’t want to be a luddite, so I said no. I should have avoided it completely. The 3D added almost nothing to the story (heck, the Star Trek trailer used 3D more effectively!) and it meant having to sit perfectly upright for three hours in order to avoid blurring. I mean, sure, the action scenes were really crisp but since when is that realistic? Having a worg streak by you at close-range should be a blurry disorienting experience… that’s realistic.

Finally, there’s singing. And I mean an unnecessary, Disney-movie-esque, ditty about dishes. Seriously? This may be the first movie in history that offers an abridged version for the home release, once that will actually tell only the story of the Hobbit.

I don’t know if I didn’t like it because it was badly edited or because I’m uncomfortable with the technical treatment or because it was just boring. Either way, it’s my blog and someone has to pay for my keen disappointment. So: 2.5 out of stars.