Movie Reviews: The Hobbit and Les Miserables

Amidst the holidays, I saw two movies, The Hobbit and Les Miserables, and although I felt a need to post reviews of them, holiday festivities prevented me. So here we go:

The Hobbit
Everything I could have wanted. For those that don't know me well, I am a huge Tolkien nerd, having read just about all the Middle Earth writings. Peter Jackson definitely caught the vision of The Hobbit. I've heard rumblings that the movie didn't follow the book precisely, but here's the deal, it did actually follow the story if you take into the account Tolkien's other writings. For instance, the White Council where Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond, and Galadriel are together discussing the Necromancer and Thorin's quest to the Lonely Mountain isn't in The Hobbit. However, it is in the other writings. The Necromancer himself is only spoken of in passing in the novel, but in other writings we learn that Gandalf was investigating his existence throughout Thorin and Company's travels.

And what is amazing about Peter Jackson is that ten years later, I feel like we are in the same Middle Earth, not some rehashed, revamped portrayal of it.

Martin Freeman did an exquisite job as Bilbo Baggins, portraying the hobbit's apprehensions and loyalties and dilemmas. It was just awkward that I have seen him nearly naked in Love Actually. Richard Armitage is the perfect Thorin Oakenshield. And not just because I am obscenely in love with Mr. Armitage. But he captured the passion Thorin had to retake the Lonely Mountain and the Arkenstone. And he totally rocked the wet hair in the battle scenes. Aidan Turner as Kili made me feel very conflicted about being attracted to a dwarf. Mmmm...that moment when Kili and Fili say "At your service"...

My only pondering is about the Arkenstone. Is Peter Jackson going to explore its significance? In Tolkien lore it is rumored to be one of the coveted Simarils...are we going to dive into that? (Please say yes.)

Les Miserables

I've read the book, I saw the musical on Broadway in New York City, and I thus can say that this was the best film adaptation I could have wanted. I have heard grumblings from such as Adam Lambert, that being live recorded was a mistake and the conventional studio recording should have been done. And I must beg to differ. I loved the realness of the music. And what blew my mind was the way the songs were performed in the same shot, the camera never cutting away. Mind blowing.

Casting was pretty spot on as well. I questioned having Anne Hathaway or Amanda Seyfried in it, but now that I have seen it, I am happy with all the portrayals. The best being Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean. Perfection. And Anne Hathaway's "I Dreamed a Dream" was everything I needed. And that is one song where I think being studio recorded would have stolen some of the magic. Instead of belting it out Susan Boyle style, Anne Hathaway's portrayal of the song showed the heartbreak of Fantine's life.


So my reviews on these two movies: Go see them both. Even if you are worried they won't live up to expectations, it's okay, they are awesome. Maybe not in the precise way you expected, but in the way they needed to be.