i think that THE BATTLE OF FIVE ARMIES was probably the best way that THE HOBBIT movie trilogy could have ended. its not that i didnt have any complaints - i did, and the movie is still filled with many disappointing flaws - but it definitely felt more comfortable and familiar - not more like the book, but more like THE LORD OF THE RINGS movies. maybe it was that we knew which technical formats to avoid (we saw it in standard def 2D - no bloody HFR or 3D) or maybe it was, as Marc Hudgins said, the benefit of lowered expectations. there were moments that were genuinely touching and stirring, some of them generated from the interplay between the actors (that the movie is full of incredible talent has never been a complaint) and sometimes when the movie gets out of its own way long enough to deliver the kinds of messages about hope, bravery, and fidelity that are part of the overall philosophy of Tolkiens work. it made me realize part of the Why behind so much of my frustration with this trilogy - its clear that Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Phillippa Boyens really do get Tokiens world; the relationships between characters, the interconnectedness of events, and the subtleties behind the magic in Tolkiens cosmology - especially the mythic power of leaders, and the magic of language, beauty, and the love of simple things. they really do understand it, and its clear that theres deep love there as well, love and appreciation as fans. it makes the large swaths of the movies where they ignore those instincts in favor of empty, meaningless spectacle even more tragic. so, this trilogy is finished, and i think has unfortunately heralded the end of a renaissance that its creators began 13 years earlier. and yet, the love that is clearly written on every moment of the screen - every golden triumph and messy mistake - makes me at least glad that i live in a world where these movies could have been made, and where these stories can still be told. Day is ended, dim my eyes, but journey long before me lies. Farewell, friends! I hear the call. The ships beside the stony wall. Foam is white and waves are grey; beyond the sunset leads my way. Foam is salt, the wind is free; I hear the rising of the Sea. Farewell, friends! The sails are set, the wind is east, the moorings fret. Shadows long before me lie, beneath the ever-bending sky, but islands lie behind the Sun that I shall raise ere all is done; lands there are to west of West, where night is quiet and sleep is rest. Guided by the Lonely Star, beyond the utmost harbour-bar, Ill find the havens fair and free, and beaches of the Starlit Sea. Ship, my ship! I seek the West, and fields and mountains ever blest. Farewell to Middle-earth at last. I see the Star above my mast!
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 03:42:42 +0000
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