Let us get to the point: It is the STORY we come to see.
I have seen many of my favorite Directors lose sight of a strong vision with all the tools, technology and financial resources made available to them. All the discussion with regard to IMAX, Stereoscopic 3D, 48 frames per second, did nothing to help a bloated and overwritten story.
A fundamental rule was broken in this film: technology is a means, not an end, to tell a story. I don't pay $19 to see an IMAX 48fps in Stereoscopic 3D movie. I pay $19 to see a story. This is something I am constantly regaling my VFX students with: technology is there is help propel the story, not TAKE THE PLACE OF IT.
Then, in my opinion, there is the hubris to take the position that "we" know best how to tell the story Tolkien meant to tell. We did such a good job with LOTR ... we have the Oscars to prove it, after all.
I did see some elements of The Hobbit in this film, but I kept having to wade through all the filler to find them. I don't mean elements that were brought in from other Tolkien stories ... I mean FILLER. Let me liken this to sausage (The ... uh ... Hobbit) filled with sawdust .... lots and lots of sawdust.
My position is, if Tolkien meant the story to be longer, he would have written it that way. To be clear: this is Tolkien's story, not anybody else's.
When it comes to story telling, where did it all begin? Around the campfire. It was the story teller's ability to capture our imaginations and take us to new places, create characters that we came to love, hate, or fear. To tell stories of love, bravery, or cowardice. All in a dark place, surrounded by Night, all of us huddled together around the warmth and light of the fire. They didn't have computers, MOCAP, digital video, 3D animation software. They used the power of their stories to enable the most powerful of tools we as a species have: our minds, our hearts and our imaginations. When that happens, it can be an enduring and incredible experience.
Lord of the Rings did that for me.
The Hobbit did not.
I have seen many of my favorite Directors lose sight of a strong vision with all the tools, technology and financial resources made available to them. All the discussion with regard to IMAX, Stereoscopic 3D, 48 frames per second, did nothing to help a bloated and overwritten story.
A fundamental rule was broken in this film: technology is a means, not an end, to tell a story. I don't pay $19 to see an IMAX 48fps in Stereoscopic 3D movie. I pay $19 to see a story. This is something I am constantly regaling my VFX students with: technology is there is help propel the story, not TAKE THE PLACE OF IT.
Then, in my opinion, there is the hubris to take the position that "we" know best how to tell the story Tolkien meant to tell. We did such a good job with LOTR ... we have the Oscars to prove it, after all.
I did see some elements of The Hobbit in this film, but I kept having to wade through all the filler to find them. I don't mean elements that were brought in from other Tolkien stories ... I mean FILLER. Let me liken this to sausage (The ... uh ... Hobbit) filled with sawdust .... lots and lots of sawdust.
My position is, if Tolkien meant the story to be longer, he would have written it that way. To be clear: this is Tolkien's story, not anybody else's.
When it comes to story telling, where did it all begin? Around the campfire. It was the story teller's ability to capture our imaginations and take us to new places, create characters that we came to love, hate, or fear. To tell stories of love, bravery, or cowardice. All in a dark place, surrounded by Night, all of us huddled together around the warmth and light of the fire. They didn't have computers, MOCAP, digital video, 3D animation software. They used the power of their stories to enable the most powerful of tools we as a species have: our minds, our hearts and our imaginations. When that happens, it can be an enduring and incredible experience.
Lord of the Rings did that for me.
The Hobbit did not.
Top Box Office
- 1.$116.6M
- 2.$20.7M
- 3.$11.0M
- 4.$9.6M
- 5.$8.3M
- 6.$7.1M
- 7.$6.3M
- 8.$6.3M
- 9.$4.1M
- 10.$3.0M