During the three years that it took to release the trilogy of movies in The Lord of the Rings saga, I was able to get acquainted with the mythology and the background universe that surrounded the entire story Tolkien had built around the rings but especially around the hobbits and the characters that originated from the shire. As the trilogy of movies ended, a lot of interest picked up in Hollywood with making up a series of prequels that would tell the stories of Bilbo Baggins, a precursor story to actually set the events in Fellowship of the Rings. These movies were also to be inspired by some of Tolkien's work in his novel The Hobbit.
The marketability of this new trilogy was very appealing to the masses. Not only were they already adapting the fantasy work of one of the top writers in the genre, but the adaptation of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and the entire trilogy was being handled by the same director who successfully handled the adaptation of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Peter Jackson. Fans waited for the movie and packed movie theaters for a chance to return to Middle Earth.
Personally, I think this movie had mass appeal because the characters are well-liked, and the fans saw this story as an opportunity to learn more about their characters. Now as much as I did enjoy the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, I did not watch the Hobbit movies when they came out in theaters. As a fan, there is something about prequels that don't really pique my interest. I believe that if the author was really interested in telling me a prequel story, he would have told me before the actual story. When he is doing it in this format, I feel he is just avoiding calling it a gimmick.
I also have to admit that I don't tend to be a fan of long movies. They really have to be very good for me to enjoy them if they are long movies. Now, I will admit that I did enjoy the three Lord of the Rings movies, but I will also admit that I have only watched each of them once in its totality and if you are wondering, yes, it was that one time in the movie theater. So for me to consider watching the Hobbit movies was a long proposal in the making. One, that I will admit, finally happened as part of this course. I actually sat one afternoon to watch the first one and shut it off when everyone started singing in Bilbo's kitchen. Eventually, two weeks later I gave the movie a second chance and I was able to watch it through. I also watched the two sequels since I knew that it was then, or never again. I will say that the movies were not terrible, but were not as great as the Ring trilogy either. At least for my taste.
It's interesting to think that most people aren't really a fan of longer movies. I'd think ideally people would rather watch longer movies because they get more watch time for the price. Granted, that's becoming more obsolete with streaming services growing more popular.
ReplyDeleteOne of the main appeals of the Hobbit series probably is that it follows Bilbo Baggins since Frodo Baggins is one of the main protagonists of the Lord of the Rings series, so we get to learn more about the Baggins family. Prequels are nice because they allow us to see more about characters who influenced the original series even if they weren't in it as much.
I singing threw me off because I didn't expect that to be a thing in these movies, but I don't remember if it happened in the Lord of the Rings.
I feel like I've noticed that movies are getting longer the past few years, at least the major productions ones. Growing up it felt like every movie I watched was 120 to 140 minutes long, and most of that was space for the credits. I definitely think that movies like this are a big commitment. They're not something you can watch during your breaks at work or in between classes that's for sure.
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