The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies fan reviews... SPOILERS

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Indeed! More often than not my sensibilities about the Jackson films have been similar to yours, so this bodes fairly well for me.

[Elentári]

Yes, thanks, Al...that's very encouraging, even for me!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Elen, it would give me great pleasure if you ended up enjoying this last film. Time will tell.

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[Frelga]

I should find this encouraging, also being of a ridiculously easy to please persuasion. I'm sure I will find it so, as soon as I get over the wereworms.

Wereworms?

Well, why not.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Why not, they're in the book.

I would be pleased if you like it too, Frelga, but I'm not holding out too much hope of that.

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[Frelga]

They are? Which book?

And I don't see why not. AUJ was fun.

[Passdagas the Brown]

"Tell me what you want done, and I will try it, if I have to walk from here to the East of East and fight the wild Were-worms in the Last Desert."

― Bilbo Baggins, from The Hobbit, "An Unexpected Party"

Classic PJ-esque extrapolation.

[Telemachos]

The were-worms were cool, but I think Thorin screaming, "Father! The sleeper has awakened!" was a bit much.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I don't mind a blatant Dune reference by PJ (though that blatant would probably be too much, even if PJ did have Éowyn directly quote Luke Skywalker in Théoden's death scene). And now that I have heard what the Kurosawa reference is I am particularly excited to see that.

And I don't see why not. AUJ was fun.

Because of comments like this. And this. And this. And this. And this.

It doesn't sound like you are in much of mind to take this film at all seriously. Maybe I'm wrong. I certainly hope so. But it is more likely to me more similar to DoS than AUJ, I would guess.

[Frelga]

Oh, I am pretty sure I won't take it seriously. If PJ doesn't, why should I? That's why I think there's a decent chance I will enjoy it.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I'm sure you will disagree with this, but I think that is a really insulting comment.

[Frelga]

I have no idea why you think that. I expect it to be a fun movie, at best, not a serious one.

But I will keep my comments off this board, if you feel that this is a solemn subject.

[Beutlin]

I have no idea why you think that. I expect it to be a fun movie, at best, not a serious one.

I would say it implies that Peter Jackson does not take the source material serious in any way, does not care for it, and only wants to have some mindless, mind-numbing fun with whatever he can dream up on his journey. In other words: the Hobbit films are at best a soulless roller-coaster ride, and anyone who tries to find some soul or heart in these movies is dead wrong.
I could be wrong, of course.

[Passdagas the Brown]

The were-worms were cool, but I think Thorin screaming, "Father! The sleeper has awakened!" was a bit much.

Does this make Azog (or Bolg) the Mahdi?

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Your comments are certainly welcome here, Frelga.

As for why I think your comment was insulting, I think that given the incredible dedication that Peter Jackson has shown to making this movies shows that he takes them very seriously indeed, despite his tendency to excess and sometimes gross humor. And while I haven't seen the film yet, I have seen enough to be convinced that despite the over the top action scenes and occasional humor, it is a serious movie, as well as hopefully a fun one.

Again, you are welcome to your opinion, and you are welcome to express it here. Just as I should be able to express my opinion that your statement that Jackson doesn't take the films seriously insults the extraordinary hard work that he has put into making these films (including the weeks of 22 hour days that led to the premier of this film), and his dedication to his craft. It is one thing to say that his style is not to your taste. That I think is perfectly reasonable. It is something else to say that he does not take making these films seriously.

ETA: Plus, what Beutlin said!

[Beutlin]

The were-worms were cool, but I think Thorin screaming, "Father! The sleeper has awakened!" was a bit much.

Does this make Azog (or Bolg) the Mahdi?

Off-Topic: I have never seen (or read for that matter) "Dune". Is it worth it?

[Passdagas the Brown]

Read it. Don't watch it.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

An unqualified yes to the book. I am not a fan for the most part of the film adaptation by David Lynch, but I like the Sci Fi Channel mini-series better.

Cross-posted with PtB, who said it more succinctly.

[Passdagas the Brown]

Your comments are certainly welcome here, Frelga.

As for why I think your comment was insulting, I think that given the incredible dedication that Peter Jackson has shown to making this movies shows that he takes them very seriously indeed, despite his tendency to excess and sometimes gross humor. And while I haven't seen the film yet, I have seen enough to be convinced that despite the over the top action scenes and occasional humor, it is a serious movie, as well as hopefully a fun one.

Again, you are welcome to your opinion, and you are welcome to express it here. Just as I should be able to express my opinion that your statement that Jackson doesn't take the films seriously insults the extraordinary hard work that he has put into making these films (including the weeks of 22 hour days that led to the premier of this film), and his dedication to his craft. It is one thing to say that his style is not to your taste. That I think is perfectly reasonable. It is something else to say that he does not take making these films seriously.

ETA: Plus, what Beutlin said!

Well, PJ has said on a number of occasions that he follows Alfred Hitchcock's philosophy with his films, as encapsulated in this quote: "Some films are slices of life, mine are slices of cake."

I think that's strong evidence that PJ doesn't take himself, or his work, seriously in the sense of illuminating profound truths. He simply wishes to entertain, and to give his audiences a big slice of sweet, gooey cake. I would generally be perfectly fine with this philosophy, if it were not connected to my favorite books.

That does not, however, mean that the other leaders in PJ's film-making team (Boyens, Walsh, and the rest of the crew) aren't trying to create something deeper.

But honestly, I think PJ is mostly interested in having fun, PJ-style. And though I don't blame him for that, I wish he had chosen different material to have his fun with.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And I would largely say the same thing to you that I would to Frelga. I don't think he loves Tolkien the way we do (though some on the production do), though I think he likes Tolkien a lot. But I think that he loves filmmaking, and takes it very seriously, despite his excesses. Certainly as seriously as other great modern directors, like Alfonso Cuaron or Terrence Malick (or even David Lynch, since his name just came up). The fact that I don't care for those filmmaker's style doesn't prevent me from realizing that they are very serious about their art, or respecting them for being so.