ETA: This Erik Davis guy states that the first film (AUJ) had "stronger emotions."

Can that be possible? The theatrical AUJ was one of the most emotionally vacant films I can remember watching in the past five years.

AUJ was certainly not devoid of emotions!



At the risk of being shot down, I will say that the first 6 chapters of the book in itself are pretty "vacant of emotion" in the sense PtB means.

And yes V. I just saw the Cumbersmaug interview. They ought to interview him more often!!!! At least more often than the Elven-cast.

Sounds great to me. Bring it on!

Very little of what he said is bothersome to me. I'm sure there will be things that I don't like, but I doubt they will be the ones that he doesn't (other than [spoiler]the Tauriel healing scene being like Arwen [/spoiler]). I must admit to experiencing a bit of guilty pleasure at looking at the explosion of angst over there.

Kili/Tauriel Romance is very real -

They share one of the longest dialogue scenes in the film. It's actually a pretty scene, I wish there were similar scenes amongst the other characters. Something lacking with the film is the quieter character moments. He seems to be more interested in action.

But the romance does bloom, and during her scene of healing him (not Bard's child as some predicted), he pronounces his love for her.

This scene was tacky. For me more so because of the set-up and it's place in the story more than anything else

Final note: I think CGI has given him way too much freedom. His focus seems to be more on action and shock than beauty and grandeur. And that extends past the action and the effects, it extends into the story. His belief that he can massively alter scenes at the last minute leaves the film feeling stunted and deformed in places.

I wish he had stuck with miniatures, not because they look better (although I think they do!) but because they force him to think through each and every shot months in advance... not 6 weeks before delivery date. At the Q & A he said that often times he "winged it" and it shows...

Stephen Fry was incredible...

A few things I liked...

1) Smaug's scene with Bilbo was great. His arrogance is perfectly captured.

2) Wandering through Mirkwood is quite fun although brief.

3) Beorn. Beorn. Beorn. Although very brief, he's great. I was hoping he'd factor into the Dol Guldur plot but alas he does not. His house is gorgeous, but we already knew that.

4) The entire Laketown sequence is amazing. The right kind of humor, the right kind of energy. It was my favorite section of the movie. Alfred and the Master are a lot of fun. I hope the extended cut reveals even more of this world.

5) Thranduil's halls are pretty great and we get to see a nice amount of them. Although not too much more than what's been revealed in clips and trailers.

6) Radagast, he's only in the movie a few scenes but I loved seeing him again. I was sad to see him leave the movie so early.

7) The Hidden Door scene is quite lovely. I wish more time was spent with drama like this than OTT action honestly. It's why audiences love these stories.

The Spiders. Their movement is much more terrifying than Shelob. These are mean, fast and aggressive spiders.

9) Bard, I liked his underground good guy storyline. It wasn't in your face and obnoxious. He just came across as a guy wanting to do right by his people and family. His poem from the trailer is a small but lovely moment in the film.

I won't shoot you down, but I can't see how one could read the "Misty
Mountains" song, and the description of Bilbo's reaction to it, and not
be moved on an emotional level.

To balance, "he" has posted a list of things that were highlights for him/her:

But I'm not about to go hang myself because one TORN poster didn't like the film.

I understand that tastes differ, but I'm curious. What about that description of the barrel sequence is "great?"

The one thing from DCole4 that got me was the claim that they reused the Arwen healing music from FotR for the scene where Tauriel does essentially the same thing. I hope that isn't true, mostly because Kingsfoil contains a great section I assumed was for that event, and it would be a real shame if they dropped it in favor of recycled material.

The description is not "of the barrel sequence". It is of one small element of the barrel sequence. And what sounds great about it is that it sound like fun physical comedy, of which I have long been a big fan, from Buster Keaton to Jackie Chan.

I understand that your tastes are different than mine, and I am happy to have you express your opinion here, but as I have said before, demeaning other people for their opinion is not acceptable here. I'm not saying that that is what you were doing here, but it appears to be edging in that direction. Please keep that in mind.

You've seen his King Kong. Now prepare for Peter Jackson’s Donkey Kong....


Verdict
Middle-earth's got its mojo back. A huge improvement on the previous instalment, this takes our adventurers into uncharted territory and delivers spectacle by the ton. And in case you were wondering, yes, someone manages to say the title as dialogue.

I'm not sure how these get through the embargo

the sequence is thrillingly sustained, orchestrated with a giddy B-movie exuberance that feels like vintage Jackson.

The description is not "of the barrel sequence". It is of one small element of the barrel sequence. And what sounds great about it is that it sound like fun physical comedy, of which I have long been a big fan, from Buster Keaton to Jackie Chan.