Nerd 5 Presents: What We Learned Today at the Movies: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug & The 12 Days of Christmas Day 2!

Get ready for a double article! Two quick reviews, as we look at the second day of Christmas and two versions of Miracle on 34th Street as well as another edition of What We Learned Today at the Movies: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 

Today’s Lesson: Get Out While You Still Can! – No matter how often you go to the

movies it’s an experience. You have to leave your home, carve out at least two hours of your day, turn off your phone, and watch the story that is about to unfold in front of you. Whether or not you hold the art form of filmmaking in high reverence there is no question that going to theater is an experience. There a very few times where you attend a movie and enjoy your trip in spite of the film itself. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is one of those times, for me. Did I have a great time at the movies? Yes. Did that have anything to do with Peter Jackson’s newest film? No. Did that have to do with the awesome company I saw it with and a great theater to see it in? You bet’cha! But this blog isn’t a review of my trips to the movies; it’s a review of movies. With that being said I begin my desolation of Smaug.  

First and foremost Smaug is clearly a sequel because it doesn’t stand on its own; it feels incomplete since it lacks a beginning, middle, and end – Smaug is the middle of the story and nothing more. Due to this fact, it’s a highly unsatisfying film that is only good for the hardest of hardcore fans. I’m not going to (nor am I trying to) convince any J.R.R Tolkien fan that this film is bad. It’s a faithful adaptation to the work of Tolkien, most aspects of the film are well-made, and there is a few good acting performances; this is all you need to appease a fan base. I’m mean, there’s no one who’s going to convince me that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was not one of the best of 2011, but that’s not the point here.

Diving a little deeper into what doesn’t work about Smaug we find our bow and arrows pointed squarely at director Jackson. In a case of “what have you done for me lately” Jackson’s new trilogy gets harder to watch at every turn. Usually you can count on a Lord of the Rings film to be at the very least visually stunning and groundbreaking, the second Hobbit film is neither. The sad part is that as other films have caught up to Jackson’s standard he’s not continued to push forward, to the point where this films CG character designs are downright bad, with the biggest issues being Azog (the white orc) and Smaug the dragon. Apart from that Jackson seems to have forgotten that there are actual human actors in this film and has left them to fend for themselves. Actors such as Ian McKellen (Gandalf), Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel), Luke Evans (Bard), Sylvester McCoy (Radagast), and, surprisingly, Orlando Bloom (Legolas) give good performances within the film; yet if you notice there’s one key part missing from this list, Martin Freeman as Bilbo. The title character of the film gets lost in the epic world created by Jackson and we are not able to connect with him, follow his journey, or really care about anything to do with Bilbo; basically Freeman seems lost in the role and that’s hard to see considering the great work Freeman has done in the past.

This however is only the tip of the real issue of The Hobbit trilogy; Jackson doesn't seem to understand the material. For someone who bleeds Middle Earth it’s hard to see what he’s thinking. Bilbo is the heart of this story and should be one of the main focuses, but instead he spends time trying to get us to fall for a Dwarf-Elf love triangle, make Thorin the next great king to rise to power, and follow Gandlaf on a journey that we already know what will happen. The worst choice that ever could have been made was to split this 330 page book into three films. I know Jackson says it was his choice and not the studios (take a listen to the audio clip here to find out more) which only makes the loss of story even worse; proving that Jackson lost his way very early in the process. If Jackson would have focused on Bilbo’s story and not tried to release three, three-hour-extended-edition films into theaters, then may this Hobbit trilogy would be watchable by everyone not just by the hardcore fans. As I’ve said before, I still recommend the 1977 animated version of the The Hobbit over these bloated attempts to regain former glory.

Day 2. Miracle on 34^th Street – Either, honestly pick either. It’s very rare that I even consider watching a remake over the original but in the case of Miracle of 34^th Street both the 1947 and 1994 versions are equally watchable. It just depends on which version you can get your hands on.

Written and produced by John Hughes (yes the Sixteen Candles, Preety In Pink, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off John Hughes) and starring Richard Attenborough, Elizabeth Perkins, Dylan McDermott and Mara Wilson, this 1994 remake of a classic film focuses a bit too much on the story between Perkins and McDermott but never loses the heart and soul of the story. Although longer than its predecessor this version of Miracle on 34^th Street uses that time to explore the more interesting characters of Kris Kringle (Attenboroguh) and Susan Walker (Wilson). Their relationship and fantastic performances are the glue that holds this film together, and although this is a good movie let’s move on to the version of the film I most prefer.

The classic 1947 version starring Edmund Gwenn, Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, and Natalie Wood(!) is an endlessly watchable film and is not only a good Christmas film, but a good film for anytime of the year. Nominated for 4 Oscars and winning 3 of them, Best Supporting Actor for Gween as Kris Kringle, Valentine Davies for best original story, George Seaton best screenplay; Miracle on 34^th Street holds up and is as much a joy to watch today as it was in 1947, I can only assume. Natalie Wood is beyond adorable and at the age of 9 proves why she’s a great movie star. But this film wouldn't be a classic without Gween, he plays a genial, honest, and caring St. Nick and who is the ideal version of the character. If you can get a hold of this holiday classic, do so, because it’s more than worth the watch.