First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have a happy new year. For my part, I got a £20 Steam code and bought a ton of new games with it, of which more next week. More importantly, around Christmas I saw two absolutely wonderful movies, and that's what I want to talk about here.
Now, I thought the first Hobbit was pretty good. It was bold and beautiful, and Martin Freeman did a pretty good job as Bilbo Baggins (I completely retract any statements I may have made about him being a bit Dr Watson-y in the first movie). Thorin was cool and I loved the action and the 3D, even if it didn't add anything to the experience (it never does). So when the Desolation of Smaug came along, I saw it as soon as I could.
And I felt let down.
Here's the thing. Peter Jackson did a really good job of following the story while adding some of the Tolkien mythos in the first instalment. It was the same adventure we'd all read in the book and we loved it, even if the start was a bit slow - I loved that beginning personally, I don't know what all the critics were talking about. But then here came part 2, and we have to jump straight into the action. Unfortunately, it's been a year and my mind hadn't caught up. The opening left me feeling confused - hadn't they lost the orcs when the eagles flew them to safety? - and I don't remember Beorn's part in the story being quite so small. This one feels less like a Hobbit and more like a Bourne movie; Thorin is suddenly horrible to everyone, the elves are treacherous, you're not really sure who to trust. And then along comes Smaug, his voice regal and chillingly uncaring (if you hadn't heard all the hype you wouldn't have guessed it was Benedict Cumberbatch), and everything seems to fall into place. Ah-ha! We're back at the story! Now I know where it's going!
Err, hang on, what?
Because for all its beauty and magic (and boy is there magic! Ian McKellen's got some stunning scenes!) it really isn't the book at all, and it shows. For a start, the elves: yes, Legolas is awesome as always, and he steals every scene he's in, but it really gets ridiculous when the dwarves escape from the hall of the elves. It's one of my favourite parts of the movie, but it sets the tone for the action in the rest of the film. There's a certain line in fantasy, where believable action becomes over the top and unrealistic even for the fantasy world in which it is happening; that's what happened in Desolation.
I've really ripped into the Hobbit here, but that's only because it has such high expectations to live up to. Jackson crafted a masterpiece in Lord of the Rings, and that gives his movies a certain pedigree. I love the first two instalments for the beautiful settings - the mazelike quality of every setting from Mirkwood to Erebor in Desolation, the homely feel of the countryside in Journey, the landscapes are beyond compare. But it doesn't have the heft and strong story of LOTR, and at times it's painfully difficult to get away from the fact that it's all filmed in a New Zealand studio. Thanks for the sequel, Jackson, but it's no Two Towers.
Besides, I've already seen something which blows it out of the water.
When I went to see it, I didn't expect The Secret Life of Walter Mitty to draw me in as much as it did. It succeeded where the Hobbit failed for me - during Desolation I kept looking around in the cinema, drawing out of the whole experience; with Walter Mitty I was pretty much grinning throughout the whole thing. Except the sad moments, which still made me smile because the characters are so normal yet larger than life. And no character is more so than Stiller's Mitty, who goes out of his way to get the picture Life magazine needs for their final cover. Jumping from a helicopter into shark-infested waters, skateboarding down a mountain road (Stiller did that stunt himself, by the way), Mitty has all these amazing adventures on his quest to find Sean O'Connell, the elusive and mysterious photographer.
My favorite part has to be near the beginning, with a battle between Walter and "Head of the transition" Ted Hendricks which rocks through New York. And all of it is over a Stretch Armstrong toy. And it's all happening in Walter's head. All of this sets up to keep you guessing throughout; is it real? Is it simply Walter's imagination? And what has Todd got to do with everything? Walter Mitty is part rom-com, part action movie, part crime thriller - as the pieces fall into place, Walter must sort out his own life and discover who he is.
I guess I identify with it as a dreamer myself - Mitty's adventures in his own mind are something I can understand, and his adventures in real life are something to aspire to. It's pitch perfect as a movie, with a bit of everything, and Stiller's unique blend of serious and ridiculous draw it all together and make it almost believable.
So that's my last two absolutely beautiful films of the year. I recommend you go and see both of them - as usual, I advise you steer clear of 3D for the Hobbit. And don't take my words to heart: I changed my mind about the first one, it always seems better on the small screen. Both of these are definitely ones for the DVD, in Mitty's case if only so you can watch it again and again.
Adieu!
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