Skip to June 11th 2013 and this is the first look of the second 'Hobbit' installment; The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. I will start off by saying my immediate reaction whilst watching the trailer and letting what I'd just seen settle in, I already get the strong sense that this will be much better. Of course, the first film was required to take a lot of development, making sure that the premise for the films was set up and flowed nicely but I just think it dwelled on this a little too much for my liking. So many of the scenes felt like they could have quite easily been cut out due to lack of anything taking place or no development being included whatsoever. As for this trailer, which has to indeed be taken with a pinch of salt as it is only a trailer, seems much more lively in terms of the events and looks to be pushing to a much more action orientated plot. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely loved all of the development and slow paced scenes that The Lord of the Rings gifted us, but I don't want to see a just short of 3 hour film with only this contained within. This sequel needs to find the right balance and what I gathered from the trailer is that it has learnt from this mistake and seems to possibly be doing so.
An element that Peter Jackson is renowned for, which was one of the few things I enjoyed about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is he really knows how to capture a scene. The landscapes and use of both practical and CGI work is brilliantly executed, offering a real immersive experience into his films. He has done this in other projects he has directed too like in his version of the classic King Kong. He thoroughly knows how to capture a sequence that offers sheer magnitude; presenting it to the audience is such a clear and well structured way. You get the real sense that the continuity for this trilogy will be just as good as The Lord of the Rings which credit goes to Jackson again for keeping the tone and look of the film feel as good as ever. The colour pallet that is used in this trailer is something that I'd also like to point out as it is something that is nailed every time, fitting the tone and style for Jackson's films. Even if like me, you didn't necessarily care for The Hobbit or even The Lord of the Rings trilogy, you can't deny them of the immaculate job they produce on creating and offering such a spectacle for the audience; it's truly mesmerizing stuff.
It looks like there will be some memorable and breathtaking action sequences included. I understand that this was the case of including and misleading myself with The Hobbit trailer initially but I get a feeling that this is the right deal this time round. There looks to be raised stakes and much more of a threat this time round, like there is truly something at risk for the characters. Another observation was possibly the inclusion of more fearsome enemies that will have to be faced and ultimately conquered to get them to where they want to be. This was another factor that the first Hobbit film was lacking and where it can truly capture some of the spirit that made The Lord of the Rings trilogy so highly regarded and will forever remain one of the greatest trilogies.
I'm going to have to end on an absolutely abysmal note by sharing my thoughts on the dragon. I thought the CGI looked utterly terrible. I've not seen anybody else's opinion on the matter but surely I can't be the only one who thinks this? For an expert in the trade like Peter Jackson and the crew he works with, every one of his films is orientated around the use of extensive CGI but it works because it looks so god damn authentic. I couldn't believe what I was seeing when we got the look of the dragon fully and this was what we got. Hopefully it was either a rough version which I highly doubt, but being a teaser trailer they could certainly go back and apply some adjustments to scratch it up a little better. It could either be that or that the angling or shot that was used just made it seem like that. It could have easily been an awkward shot for them to have made it look as good as it will from a frontal view but it's easily been done before so that can't really be justified as a legitimate excuse. I have faith it will redeem itself when the release of the film comes around and that in fact it is much better than first thought.
On the whole, I'm relying on this one being much better which in the early stages I am definitely getting the feeling that it will be. It looks like the stakes are much higher this time, giving that real sense of the true action/adventure films that Peter Jackson has presented us with so well over the years.
Here is the teaser trailer for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsKRzJkDiyg
Keep in mind that as originally scripted, at least a third of this movie was supposed to be in the first one. So obviously that movie suffered when all the action scenes it was building toward were dropped, and some other stuff with Azog was hastily slapped in. While I didn't hate Unexpected Journey, it was clear it was just sort of lying there as a first episode.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think the Smaug CG is in a rougher form here and that they'll be tweaking until the last minute. Remember that there were Kong shots in the trailer that were different in the final film. I wish we hadn't seen the dragon yet. And I'm not loving the design right now. Though I will add also that the CG may not end up looking as "good" as you want it to because these movies are being shot in such a way that the CG often looks different. One of the complaints of the last movie was that a good chunk of the CG looked fake. Maybe it'll look better in HFR.
-TK
I had that feeling too, it didn't come off like that so it can only surely be a good sign for both this installment and the final one which makes me even more excited and optimistic now.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I wasn't sure, it certainly had that sort of rough look to it. I can only hope they tweak some things and make it a bit more presentable. Yeah I understand, still not convinced by this 48 FPS and it certainly can't be used as an excuse by the filmmakers for the effects as there is enough work and money being pumped into that side of the production.