The Hobbit. The Desolation of Smaug.

I really didn’t expect to watch the second part of Peter Jackson’s trilogy but getting a loan of a copy of the Blu-ray rather forced my hand. But I’m afraid to say that I still had the same problem with the penultimate movie as I had had with the first. The problem really  is obvious, the dragging out of such a small novel of well under 300 pages to fit a movie timescale of over eight hours and still make it interesting has not succeeded and although The Hobbit. The Desolation of Smaug (2013) is not as boring or mind numbing as An Unexpected Journey (2012) it still plodded along somewhat tediously with many of the scenes going on far to long. And ladies and gentlemen there is still another 144minutes to go! Don’t get me wrong its a fine story and one that could have been fitted into a single film, think of the excitement that would be generated, it has a fine cast, miraculously shrunken down in size to play all the height disadvantaged people. My best advice, that I should have taken, would be to give Mr Jackson’s trilogy a miss – unless you suffer from insomnia.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Let me state I do not object to movies with a lengthy running time, but what I do object to is one that is exceptional drawn out with each scene stretched to its limit, which would make any film monotonous and soporific. But to actually attempt to adapt a book that’s barely more than 270 pages into three films with a total running time of nearly nine hours is, I would suggest, a foolhardy task. Of course I’m not saying its impossible but your adaption would need to be absorbing and extremely interesting to maintain interest for that length of time. For example Oliver Assayas brilliant story of Carlos the Jackal, Carlos (2010) weights at 330 minutes, Ingmar Bergman masterful family drama Fanny and Alexander (1982) is well worth staying the course at 312 minutes, as is Sion Sono’s tale of lust and religion Love Exposure (2008) at 237 minutes, and need we forget Fassbinder’s Berlin Alexandeplatz (1981) which is the longest single narrative and well worth a watch at 15 hours. Where is this wee rant leading too, Peter Jackson’s latest middle earth adventure, all 170 minutes of it? The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), which deals with the happenings before Jacksons Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The wizard Gandalf enters Bilbo Baggins hole in the ground.

The young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is enticed to leave his comfortable hole in the ground by the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and go on a long and arduous journey with a band of 13 dwarves lead by Thorin (Richard Armitage) who wish to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug a very large and fierce dragon. They encounter various adventures on their way the most enjoyable being when Bilbo Baggins meets the creepy Gollum, played in motion capture by Andy Serkis, a scene that really does ‘capture’ your imagination.

The intricate detail, eye watering CGI and the beautiful cinematography, elevating the New Zealand countryside to something beyond belief, does not make up for an excitement deficiency. If this film had a severe haircut by editor Jabez Olssen with a reduction in running time to approximately two hours then we could have had a fantasy adventure drama that did not feel like a cure for insomnia. There’s no way that I, and many others I imagine, will be prepared to sit for another six hours of Jackson’s indulgent filmmaking.

Bilbo meets Gollum.

The Lovely Bones.

Peter Jackson’s 2009 drama The Lovely Bones is a different take on the traditional murder mystery. Based on the best selling novel by Alice Sebold the film centres on Susie Salmon a14 years-old who was brutally murdered in December 1973 on her way home from school. Following her death Susie, who narrates her story from the afterlife, continues to watch over her grieving family while her killer, George Harvey, remains undetected. The film stars Saoirse Ronan, (pronounced Scarfa Roonan) the young star of Joe Wrights award winning Atonement (2007), as the murder victim, Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Pravda 2006) plays the paedophile, both of whom give accomplished performances in their respective roles. An unconvincing Mark Wahlberg (The Departed 2006) is Jack Salmon and Rachel Weisz (My Blueberry Nights 2002) is cast as Abigail Salmon, Susie’s father and mother. The movie is a strange mix of fantasy and drama that I found particularly enjoyable although a little to long and there’s a definite change of pace following the murder.