(no subject)
Dec. 17th, 2003 03:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sua_layOnce again, sleeping helped.
Boy was I fucked up when I came home this morning! My mind kept playing the RotK ending scene over and over again, and we all know how well I can take that.
I had bought a ticket for today as well (that was when I was supposed to go to see the movie originally, but thanks to Mia, I had a ticket for last night) but couldn't go to see it again. There are like a gazillion people who want to go to see that thing with me, and my psyche can't handle me watching that thing more than a couple of times.
takes a deep breath
Okay. Now for some rational commentary.
The beginning with Smeagol and Deagol was a very nice change of pace. A weird, almost dreamlike scene with two 'strange' hobbits. I was glad to see Andy Serkis as almost himself, it made me appreciate the character of Gollum even more. They do look alike. :D
Liked the way they got all the characters together again. There was nice hobbit humor, but was glad to see Merry and Pippin weren't turned into a total joke. The angst with the Palantir was excellent! Even after 'seeing' the slash between Merry and Pippin since I'd read the book ages ago, this was when I could see it on the film.
I had some doubts about the way they jump from scene to scene, but they did it well. There was no angry frustration when they went from Sam and Frodo to Edoras and so on.
Elrond really shone here. I like Hugo Weaving. They had some excellent dialogue from the book, especially the whole 'gave hope to the rangers and had none for myself' -bit. (and yes, I know that was Aragorn's mom's line, but it fit here well)
Gah, my mind has holes... Am trying hard to think of what happened next...
Denethor was a real bastard. I liked Faramir here, but would have wanted to see more of him. That was kind of a recurring theme in the movie. Liked Eomer and would have wanted to see more of him. And so on.
For some weird reason, I liked Theoden here better than in TTT. His scenes (including his death) were good. Eowyn was good as well, even though the whole 'dressed up as a man' was kinda rushed.
Was I the only one who was a bit annoyed of the way people all seemed to yank the hobbits around all the time?
I have no idea of how to translate our ratings to the PGs and such, but when Aragorn et al went to collect the dead, I kept thinking, 'not suitable for youngsters'! In here, the movie is PG-11, which actually means that if you're 11, you can go to see the movie alone, if you're 9, you can go with your parents.
WTF? The whole 'fantasy as a genre is for kids' sickens me!
Watching the great battle, I kept wondering why some special effects work and some don't. With all the baddies and the orcses and cave trolls, there were lots of effects here, and I wasn't annoyed. Unlike watching like... Star Wars! This worked. The story flowed. In those miserable pieces of crap, it doesn't.
Merry and Pippin were once again good. Both individually and then together. I was amazed of the bit where Gandalf talked to Pippin about death. Had to actually grab a kleenex then. sigh
Legolas and Gimli were nice, but why oh why does Legolas act like he's Aragorn's mother? I mean, I could see the stirring of slashness between those two, but not really. Weird.
If I would criticize something at this point, it would be the whole fact that they did charge a bit too often. Aragorn charging from the ships, then again at the gates. I know with the title it was his show, but still... They obviously left the Mouth of Sauron for the EE, so the last stand thing at the Black Gate felt really weird.
I really thought the movie could have been longer. Sure, the fighting scenes were already long, but I thought they were well paced. It wasn't like they were just for the sake of fighting. I would have wanted to see more scenes about Gondor. How it was after the war. How did Aragorn introduce himself. Now it just seemed like he appeared from out of nowhere and everyone was all yay about having him as their king.
Hmm...
Okay, so you notice I haven't said anything about... Those two. It was intentional. Needed to think about the movie as a piece of work before tackling the angst.
I liked the way Smeagol played Frodo against Sam. That was well done, even though after TTT, it was kinda.... Sudden. Could see how both hobbits were tired and in pain. The desperation and foolish hope was well shown in the parts where Sam talked about home. The way he came to the conclusion that they weren't going to see the Shire again was really sad.
There was excellent acting there. Frodo becoming almost wraith like. Sam protecting him. The scene with Frodo sending Sam away was heart wrenching. The one where Frodo realizes he made a mistake was even more.
I wasn't too big about Sam being all heroic and fighting the orcses. Still, I guess he had to, considering that they didn't have kickass Gandalf with them.
Distroying the ring... See, I'm just rambling here now... The hobbits' journey across Mordor was awful. The crawling, the angst. I totally lost it when Sam told Frodo he couldn't carry the ring but could carry him. Yes, the next moments were a blur when I tried to mop my face. Smeagol's end was good, since he was actually happy. So not more about that.
Will not say a lot about the whole 'woulda married Rosie' -thing and the wedding et al. I... I just think it's a cop out and hate it.
Anyway...
The actual ending was a bit weird. The last ship out of Havens? If so, where were Legolas and Gimli? Why didn't we hear anything about their future? Their friendship was such a big thing in the book. Why not here? It was good to see Bilbo again. Hated, hated, HATED the way Frodo left. The hug with Sam was once again a bit blurry, since I was trying very hard not to choke on tears.
Heh.
I was glad they had Frodo's voiceover saying Sam had to be whole for now. It would have been nice to see how he eventually left for the Havens and then sailed to Valinor as well. But we can't have everything (will now send PJ mail, telling him we need to see that, precious). I guess that's what fanfic's for.
Okay, I guess that's about all. Oh, except that even after the whole ent water thing, Merry and Pippin were still the same size as Sam and Frodo. Also, was I the only one reminded of Disney's Mulan at the end where all of Gondor bowed at the hobbits???
My head still hurts. Not very much, but there is a slight throbbing there. It's raining out there, the world looks gloomy. Fits my mood perfectly.
I'm going to watch something fluffy and pointless now.
Boy was I fucked up when I came home this morning! My mind kept playing the RotK ending scene over and over again, and we all know how well I can take that.
I had bought a ticket for today as well (that was when I was supposed to go to see the movie originally, but thanks to Mia, I had a ticket for last night) but couldn't go to see it again. There are like a gazillion people who want to go to see that thing with me, and my psyche can't handle me watching that thing more than a couple of times.
takes a deep breath
Okay. Now for some rational commentary.
The beginning with Smeagol and Deagol was a very nice change of pace. A weird, almost dreamlike scene with two 'strange' hobbits. I was glad to see Andy Serkis as almost himself, it made me appreciate the character of Gollum even more. They do look alike. :D
Liked the way they got all the characters together again. There was nice hobbit humor, but was glad to see Merry and Pippin weren't turned into a total joke. The angst with the Palantir was excellent! Even after 'seeing' the slash between Merry and Pippin since I'd read the book ages ago, this was when I could see it on the film.
I had some doubts about the way they jump from scene to scene, but they did it well. There was no angry frustration when they went from Sam and Frodo to Edoras and so on.
Elrond really shone here. I like Hugo Weaving. They had some excellent dialogue from the book, especially the whole 'gave hope to the rangers and had none for myself' -bit. (and yes, I know that was Aragorn's mom's line, but it fit here well)
Gah, my mind has holes... Am trying hard to think of what happened next...
Denethor was a real bastard. I liked Faramir here, but would have wanted to see more of him. That was kind of a recurring theme in the movie. Liked Eomer and would have wanted to see more of him. And so on.
For some weird reason, I liked Theoden here better than in TTT. His scenes (including his death) were good. Eowyn was good as well, even though the whole 'dressed up as a man' was kinda rushed.
Was I the only one who was a bit annoyed of the way people all seemed to yank the hobbits around all the time?
I have no idea of how to translate our ratings to the PGs and such, but when Aragorn et al went to collect the dead, I kept thinking, 'not suitable for youngsters'! In here, the movie is PG-11, which actually means that if you're 11, you can go to see the movie alone, if you're 9, you can go with your parents.
WTF? The whole 'fantasy as a genre is for kids' sickens me!
Watching the great battle, I kept wondering why some special effects work and some don't. With all the baddies and the orcses and cave trolls, there were lots of effects here, and I wasn't annoyed. Unlike watching like... Star Wars! This worked. The story flowed. In those miserable pieces of crap, it doesn't.
Merry and Pippin were once again good. Both individually and then together. I was amazed of the bit where Gandalf talked to Pippin about death. Had to actually grab a kleenex then. sigh
Legolas and Gimli were nice, but why oh why does Legolas act like he's Aragorn's mother? I mean, I could see the stirring of slashness between those two, but not really. Weird.
If I would criticize something at this point, it would be the whole fact that they did charge a bit too often. Aragorn charging from the ships, then again at the gates. I know with the title it was his show, but still... They obviously left the Mouth of Sauron for the EE, so the last stand thing at the Black Gate felt really weird.
I really thought the movie could have been longer. Sure, the fighting scenes were already long, but I thought they were well paced. It wasn't like they were just for the sake of fighting. I would have wanted to see more scenes about Gondor. How it was after the war. How did Aragorn introduce himself. Now it just seemed like he appeared from out of nowhere and everyone was all yay about having him as their king.
Hmm...
Okay, so you notice I haven't said anything about... Those two. It was intentional. Needed to think about the movie as a piece of work before tackling the angst.
I liked the way Smeagol played Frodo against Sam. That was well done, even though after TTT, it was kinda.... Sudden. Could see how both hobbits were tired and in pain. The desperation and foolish hope was well shown in the parts where Sam talked about home. The way he came to the conclusion that they weren't going to see the Shire again was really sad.
There was excellent acting there. Frodo becoming almost wraith like. Sam protecting him. The scene with Frodo sending Sam away was heart wrenching. The one where Frodo realizes he made a mistake was even more.
I wasn't too big about Sam being all heroic and fighting the orcses. Still, I guess he had to, considering that they didn't have kickass Gandalf with them.
Distroying the ring... See, I'm just rambling here now... The hobbits' journey across Mordor was awful. The crawling, the angst. I totally lost it when Sam told Frodo he couldn't carry the ring but could carry him. Yes, the next moments were a blur when I tried to mop my face. Smeagol's end was good, since he was actually happy. So not more about that.
Will not say a lot about the whole 'woulda married Rosie' -thing and the wedding et al. I... I just think it's a cop out and hate it.
Anyway...
The actual ending was a bit weird. The last ship out of Havens? If so, where were Legolas and Gimli? Why didn't we hear anything about their future? Their friendship was such a big thing in the book. Why not here? It was good to see Bilbo again. Hated, hated, HATED the way Frodo left. The hug with Sam was once again a bit blurry, since I was trying very hard not to choke on tears.
Heh.
I was glad they had Frodo's voiceover saying Sam had to be whole for now. It would have been nice to see how he eventually left for the Havens and then sailed to Valinor as well. But we can't have everything (will now send PJ mail, telling him we need to see that, precious). I guess that's what fanfic's for.
Okay, I guess that's about all. Oh, except that even after the whole ent water thing, Merry and Pippin were still the same size as Sam and Frodo. Also, was I the only one reminded of Disney's Mulan at the end where all of Gondor bowed at the hobbits???
My head still hurts. Not very much, but there is a slight throbbing there. It's raining out there, the world looks gloomy. Fits my mood perfectly.
I'm going to watch something fluffy and pointless now.
