I just got back to my hotel room from a 12:01am showing of The Hobbit here in West Palm Beach. It’s past 3am but I can’t sleep yet, so instead I’ll write some thoughts I have about the movie.
I’m going to assume you know the story of the Hobbit and of The Lord of the Rings, but will try not to spoil anything movie-specific.
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Some may know from Twitter that I had a very bad morning. Blood pressure must have been through the roof. I was in a bit of pain in fact.
So I unplugged. And part of unplugging meant going to see Captain America with my brother. I asked Twitter it was worth seeing, go no replies. Then later I found out today was apparently the first day, so I had to take a chance. And I promised my brother that if the movie got politically offensive I was walking out.
I don’t read superhero comic books. Never have, never will. In fact the last such movies I saw were Batman and Batman Returns. So if you want someone to judge how faithful the movie is to the source material, I’m not your guy.
Just from my perspective, there was nothing wrong with the movie. I’m very sensitive to left-wing politics thrown into a movie, but I saw none of that. Captain America’s love for America is not made fun of. His outfit is, but in an appropriate way. America is not the bad guy. The bad guys are the bad guys.
I’d see it again at some point.
Some may know I enjoy the various stories of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth very much, and beyond just having re-read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings several times each. Some of those who know that were surprised I hadn’t watched Peter Jackson’s movie versions, but I had good reasons for avoiding them: I’d heard plenty about what was done in the movies. It bothered me. Important plot points were left out and others were changed in important ways.
I’ve still had voices telling me I should see them anyway though, and the thought of buying the series was rolling around in my head. So, finally, a couple of weeks ago I broke down and bought the Bluray set. And last night I watched all 9 hours of movie in one, long marathon. Here are my thoughts on the series. Yes I will spoil freely. You should have read the books by now, but if you haven’t, don’t read on.
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