The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

• Title:  The Hobbit:  The Desolation of Smaug
• Director:  Peter Jackson
• Date:  2013
• Studio:  New Line, MGM
• Genre:  Action, Fantasy
• Cast:  Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Dean O'Gorman, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sylvester McCoy, Luke Evans and Stephen Fry.
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"You've changed, Bilbo Baggins, you're not the same Hobbit that left the Shire." - Gandalf

"I started this!  I cannot forsake them.  They are in grave danger."  -- Gandalf

"If what you say is true, the World is in grave danger." - Radagast

"What have we done?" - Bilbo

There is an innate problem with any trilogy, especially a trilogy of films - and that is, the film often has no beginning and no ending.  The beginning, background, and set-up is all in the first film.  The resolution will be in the final film.  And sometimes, the middle film is very hard to judge without seeing the final film.  This seems to be especially true with Peter Jackson's trilogies based on JRR Tolkien's works, because Jackson takes the approach they are three long chapters of a single work.  An approach that, in the end, especially when the extended editions are included, worked for Lord of the Rings.

However, for The Desolation of Smaug, I find it very difficult to review the film on it's own.  I suspect that the extended edition (to be released on Blu-ray next Tuesday 11/4/2014), may affect how I view the film, and the third film, The Hobbit:  The Battle of Five Armies, which is due in theaters in December 2014, will change my opinion further.  But I will say this - I didn't hate it.  Overall, I felt the theater-version of The Hobbit:  The Desolation of Smaug was "ok" to "good", but not terrible.

Whereas, The Hobbit:  An Unexpected Journey emphasized that the Dwarves Quest was to return to their home, which made the film more universal and made it easier to emphasize with the characters and the whole point of the exercise; The Desolation of Smaug, rather like the book, emphasizes both adventure and a Quest for gold.  Often, the Tolkien's works, Dwarves are seen as overly concerned with money:  gold, jewels, and treasures of the Earth.  This is certainly the case in The Desolation of Smaug, where Thorin seems to be not only motivated by returning to his ancestoral kingdom but by claiming the dragon's horde of treasure to be found there.

The Desolation of Smaug is very episodic as a film; and each section often involves a lot of action, fighting, and special effects.  However, there seems to be little characterization among all the action, which is a pity.  In terms of characters, new ones are introduced:  Tauriel, a female Elf, who is a good fighter and who has a passion for hunting down Orcs (and possibly a crush on Legolas); Bard, a bargeman who's raising three children on his own, and lives in Laketown (Esgaroth); The Master (played with relish by Stephen Fry) - the tyrannical dictator of Laketown.

The character of Tauriel, though completely non-canonical I actually liked, especially the second time I watched the film, and on DVD.  She brings a freshness to the film, and I hope we see more of her in the third film.

Bard seems much more distrustful of the Dwarves and even seems to dislike them, once he figures out who they are.  However, he's also interested in genuinely helping the people of Laketown, and seems to be the one in charge of attempting to rid the town of their rich and tyrannical Master.

Additions of new characters such as Tauriel, and the expansion of short sequences in the book into full-blown action scenes in the film, almost, at times, makes Peter Jackson's The Hobbit seem like Fan Fiction.  I don't mean that in a negative way.  But Tolkien created a very rich, and detailed world, and even, it's said, felt it was OK for others to "play in his sandbox" as it were.  But regardless as to whether or not the author would have approved of the films - they really do feel like an expansion of Tolkien's story and world.  This is especially true in the introduction of completely original characters, such as Tauriel, or the expansion of the roles of other characters, such as Legolas (who as the son of King Thranduil might be mentioned in The Hobbit novel, but he doesn't have a major role.)  I love Tolkien's books, especially The Lord of the Rings, so I don't really have a problem with Peter Jackson's additions.  I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Jackson had made The Hobbit first, and as a single film, prior to making Lord of the Rings, but how that might have gone, we will never know.

The other aspect of The Hobbit:  The Desolation of Smaug, that I found especially interesting - and I picked up on this more watching the DVD, than I had seeing the film in the theater a year ago, was the amount of foreshadowing of events in Lord of the Rings. Gandalf's mission with Radagast to discover what is going on, and who the Necromancer is, leads directly into The Lord of the Rings, as does the marching of the Orcs.  When Bilbo briefly drops The Ring in Mirkwood and fights off a spider to get it back, then says "Mine," as he grabs it - it is frightening because we know where that leads.  And even Bilbo, as he realizes what he's does, seems startled by his own actions.  The spiders, also reference the confrontation between Sam and Frodo and Shelob (which is in The Two Towers novel, but in the film of The Return of the King).

Overall, the film was good - I did buy the DVD, after all - and I intend on buying the Extended Edition Blu-Ray (or possibly DVD if there is one).  And I certainly want to see the final film.  But I felt the first film of Jackson's The Hobbit  trilogy was better.

Recommendation:  See It (for the spectacle at least).
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
Next Film: The Prestige

Oz The Great and Powerful

• Title:  Oz The Great and Powerful
• Director:  Sam Raimi
• Date:  2013
• Studio:  Disney
• Genre:  Fantasy, Children
• Cast:  James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Joey King, Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• Blu-Ray Format:  NTSC

"You want me to lead an army that can't kill?" - Oz
"If this was easy, we wouldn't need a Wizard, would we?" - Glinda

"So you're not the wizard I was expecting. [pause] So you don't have the powers I thought you'd have. But you're here. There must be a reason. Maybe you're capable of more than you know." - Glinda

"Look, I know I'm not the Wizard you were expecting. But I might just be the wizard that you need." - Oz

Oz the Great and Powerful starts in black and white in 4 x 4 ratio (it should be 3X4 but the Blu-Ray has it boxed as an exact square). Oz is a magician and con-man in a small, and shabby travelling circus, and he's not even that good a magician. He's actually running away from his latest conquests boyfriend, when he leaps into a hot air balloon and is whooshed away in a tornado.

He crash-lands in the land of Oz, and when he does, not only does the film change from black and white to color - but the film literally opens up to wide-screen too. The image rolls to the side and up to fill the screen. It's both reminiscent of the famous 1939 film starring Judy Garland (which starts in black and white and becomes Technicolor in Oz), and an almost physical transportation into a new world. And what a colorful world it is. The colors are bright, and beautiful, and it really does look like technicolor. Especially in the opening, and early scenes, the scenes in Oz almost feel like animation - classic Disney animation at that and it's truly beautiful.

Oz crash-lands in a river, and meets Theadora, a woman dressed in red and black. When Oz introduces himself, she tells him of her father's the king's prophecy - that one day, a great Wizard, bearing the name of "our land", will come to save all the people, and become the new king. Oz gives Theadora one of his music boxes, as he has to many other women that he's been interested in, telling her the made-up story that it belonged to his late grandmother. He then dances with Theadora. She's smitten.

Theadora takes Oz to the Emerald City and introduces him to her sister, Evadora, the royal adviser. She also becomes instantly interested in Oz. She gives him a tour of the palace, shows him the royal treasury, then tells him he must save the Land of Oz by killing the Evil Witch. Oz isn't so sure about the whole "killing" thing, but when he learns that destroying the witch's wand will kill her, he agrees.

Oz, along with a highly amusing talking monkey in a bell-hop's uniform head out on their quest.  Along the way, they see smoke, and wander into the destroyed China Town.  There they meet and rescue the China Girl, and Oz repairs her legs with glue.  China Girl joins their quest.

They soon enter the Dark Forest. Oz has a plan to distract the Evil Witch and steal her wand. But when he meets Glinda - he learns she is a Good Witch, and it's Evadora who's wicked - and who killed her father.

Meanwhile, Evadora is laying plans, and manipulating her sister, Theadora.

Glinda convinces Oz to help her. Evanora's men and flying baboons attack. Glinda creates a ground fog for cover. Oz, China Girl, Finley, and Glinda end up on the edge of cliff, with a wind-swept tree in silhouette and a sunset behind them.  Yes, it looks like the famous scene in Gone with the Wind.  Glinda dives off the cliff, and they all travel by bubble to her castle in Quadling Country.  There, Oz meets the good people of Kansas, I mean, Oz - farmers, tinkers, seamstresses and tailors, and the Munchkins.  Oz doesn't really know what to do, especially to turn the people into an army to defeat two wicked witches.

Theadora, turned green and evil by her sister, arrives and threatens Oz - then leaves.

Oz is unsure of himself, and doesn't really know what to do.  But after Glinda tells him he might have more potential than he thinks he does, and after telling China Girl a bedtime story about the great wizard Thomas Edison, Oz gets an idea.

Oz puts the Quadling people to work, each to their own special ability. They work to his plan.

The next day, Oz orchestrates his plan. He even has some surprises for his own followers. The plan, which I don't want to spoil, is perfect, makes great sense for an idea that comes from con-man/magician from Kansas, and most importantly - it works. Which isn't really a spoiler, as this film is a pre-quel to The Wizard of Oz.

Overall, Oz the Great and Powerful, was just a beautiful film. It looks gorgeous. You really don't see a lot of movies that look so beautiful anymore. For once, CGI, that screams, "look at me - I'm pretty CGI," works, because it adds to the storybook feel of the film. And the colors are simply gorgeous, beautiful, incredible. At times, especially in the first few scenes in Oz, this film really looks like an animated feature. I'm assuming that was intentional. The animated look brings the Land of Oz to life - and sets it as a new world.

I also, really, really, really loved that this film opens in black and white.  The move from black and white to color, and from cropped 4x4 ratio to widescreen is handled very well.

James Franco does a great job playing Oz as a lovable rogue - who, at the start, in Kansas, has no moral scruples, really. But, in Oz, he comes into his own, and learns his own lessons. Oz is a fallible hero, and he learns how to be a leader, with Glinda's help (not to mention Finley and even China Girl), which makes for a good film.

Overall, this is a wonderful, feel-good movie, that is also great for children.

Recommendation:  See it, especially good for children.
Rating:  4 of 5 Stars
Next Film:  Either The Hobbit the Desolation of Smaug or The Prestige.

Shall We Dance? (Japan, 1996)

• Title:  Shall We Dance? (Japan, 1996)
• Director:  Masayuki Suo
• Date:  1996
• Studio:  Miramax
• Genre:  Drama, Musical
• Cast:  Kôji Yakusho, Tamiyo Kusakari, Naoto Takenaka, Eri Watanaka, Hiromasa Taguchi
• Format:  Color, Widescreen (In Japanese, with English Subtitles)
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"...There is a secret wonder...about the joys that dance can bring." - Spoken introduction

"Dance is more than just the steps.  Feel the music and just dance for sheer joy." - Sensei Tanaka

Shall We Dance (1996) and Shall We Dance (2004) have the exact same plot, but it is the Richard Gere film that is a re-make and Americanization of this Japanese film.  I actually saw both in the movie theater, and enjoyed them both.

The Japanese film starts with a spoken introduction about the reserved nature of the Japanese people, a nature than sees ballroom dancing with suspicion.  In a land where married couples don't hold hands, much less kiss in public, and would seldom if ever express love with words even in private, the act of dancing with a stranger is seen, well, as something perverse. However, this film is about ballroom dancing in Japan and the world-wide competitive dance sport.

Sugiyama, is a successful accountant, who has just bought a house for his family.  He works long hours and commutes daily to his job.  He is satisfied, if not exactly happy with his life. But it would never occur to him to change anything.  On the commute, from his train window, he sees a beautiful young woman in a dance studio - who seems filled with melancholy.  It takes a few tries for Sugiyama to work up the courage, but he finally goes to the dance studio to sign up for lessons.

Upon learning that private lessons are very expensive, he signs up for group lessons instead. His tutor is Sensei (teacher) Tanaka, an older, experienced, and patient teacher. The other students in the class include a slightly overweight man who's taking dance lessons to lose weight and hopefully meet girls, and a know-it-all type who's taken one dance class before with his wife, and now thinks improving his dance skills will impress her.

Also at the studio is Mr. Aoki, who works with Sugiyama at his office, and is a competitive dance hopeful; and a second teacher (Toyoko) who also hopes to be more successful at competitive dance.  Mia, the young woman Sugiyama saw in the window, also works there, but only gives private lessons.  Unraveling her story is as much of the plot, as are Sugiyama's growing skills at dance.

Sensei Tanaka works with Sugiyama and his fellow students, teaching them basic steps, and the ten competitive dances as well as a few fun, social dances.

At home, Sugiyama's wife and daughter notice he now seems happier, but eventually, his wife grows suspicious and hires a private detective.  Upon learning his secret is that he's taking weekly dance lessons, and he's not having an affair, his wife accepts it, but is confused. Remember that, culturally, ballroom dance isn't accepted.

As the students improve, there are montages not only of the dance lessons, but of Sugiyama dancing on the train platform, in a park (including in the rain), and even moving his feet in time under his desk.  Meanwhile, Mr. Aoki, slides through corridors and rows of desks with precise movements - but cannot find a good partner for competitive dance.

The second half of the film involves an amateur ballroom dance competition.  Due to various events, Toyoko will dance two traditional dances (Waltz, and Quick Step) with Sugiyama and the Latin dances (Rumba, and Paso Double) with Mr. Aoki.  The Latin dances are first and Aoki starts off doing what he always does - overacting, using "jazz hands", and wearing a ridiculous wig and costume.  A competitor turns the wig, so for the second dance he removes it and dances far better than he ever has, because he's not trying to be someone he's not. During their dances, Sugiyama and Toyoko are doing brilliantly, until Sugiyama's distracted by his daughter rooting him on from the stands.  He manages to step on and tear off Toyoko's skirt.  Needless to say, Toyoko is forced to default.

Sugiyama is appalled by this.  He gives up dancing and goes back to his wife and daughter. He's invited to a fair-well party for Mia, who's decided to return to Blackpool (England) and competitive dancing. Finally, though, he shows up at the very end of her party and she dances her last dance with him.  As they dance, other couples join in on the dance floor.

The Japanese, original, film version of Shall We Dance? moves at a slower pace than the re-make with Richard Gere.  But at times, this makes for a better film.  It's filled with fascinating characters, all of whom have their own stories, and all of whom are looking for something.  That it isn't until the very end that we find out all of Mia's story, makes her story that much richer.  The music also, is mostly traditional ballroom dance music.  "Save the Last Dance for Me" is used for montages.  Mia's theme dance song is "Shall We Dance?" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I  (yes, the Yul Brenner musical).  "Shall We Dance?" fits, but it will stick in your head for days after seeing the film.

Recommended:  See it.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Next Film:  Oz the Great and Powerful

Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country

• Title:  Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country
• Director:  Nicholas Meyer
• Date:  1991
• Genre:  SF, Mystery
• Cast:  William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Keonig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Kim Cattrall, Mark Lenard, Christopher Plummer, David Warner, Grace Lee Whitney, Michael Dorn, William Morgan Sheppard, Christian Slater
• Format:  Color, Widescreen
• DVD Format:  R1, NTSC

"We believe it [the explosion on Praxis] was caused by over-mining and insufficient safety precautions.  The moon's decimation means deadly pollution of their ozone.  They [Klingons] will have depleted their supply of oxygen in approximately fifty Earth years.  Due to their enormous military budget the Klingon economy does not have the resources to combat this catastrophe."  - Spock

"Logic is the beginning of wisdom, Volaris, not the end." - Spock

"You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read it in the original Klingon." - Chancellor Gorkin

"You don't trust me, do you?  I don't blame you.  If there is going to be a Brave New World, our generation is going to have the hardest time living in it." - Chancellor Gorkin

Star Trek VI starts with a bang, but what at first appears to be a supernova, is in fact a man-made (well, Klingon-made) explosion of the Klingon moon Praxis.  This explosion causes a huge shockwave, which hits the Excelsior on patrol in the area under the command of Captain Sulu.  Once recovered from the shockwave hit, Sulu offers help, but the Klingons order him to stay outside the neutral zone.

There's a top-secret meeting at Star Fleet, where Spock reveals that over-mining and lack of safety precautions on Praxis caused the moon to explode.  This has poisoned the Ozone on the Klingon homeworld of Kronos, and the planet will be uninhabitable in 50 years.  Spock has worked with the Klingon chancellor, Gorkin, coming to an arrangement to de-militarize Star Fleet.  Gorkin and the Federation will work towards an uneasy peace.  Kirk, who has already indicated his agreement with the most militant of the Star Fleet Admirals, is charged with escorting Gorkin to Earth for a peace conference.

Kirk continues to tell pretty much anyone who will listen that he distrusts Klingons, and even notes in his private captain's log that he blames the Klingons for his son's death.

Kirk and his crew, including Spock, but minus Sulu (who is on the Excelsior still) precede to the point where they are to meet Gorkin's ship.  Once there, they invite Gorkin and his staff to a state dinner on the Enterprise.  The dinner is a difficult experience for all involved, but not a complete disaster.  Shortly after the dinner, as Kirk is settling in from a bit too much Romulan Ale, he's called to the bridge because of a radiation surge.  As Kirk watches helplessly, first one, then a second torpedo hit Gorkin's ship, seemingly from the Enterprise herself.

Two Federation officers, wearing gravity boots, and darken helmets, beam to the Klingon vessel, Kronos One, and kill anyone in their way, before attacking Gorkin.  They then escape.  The gravity boots were necessary because the torpedo shots had disabled the Klingon ship's artificial gravity.

When the Klingons threaten to fire on Enterprise in retaliation, Kirk surrenders his ship.  He then takes McCoy with him to Kronos One. Gorkin is injured but not quite dead.  McCoy tries to save him, despite his lack of knowledge of Klingon anatomy, but Gorkin dies anyway.

Kirk and McCoy are arrested by the Klingons for killing the Chancellor.  Though Defense Attorney Worf attempts to fight the good fight, they are found guilty almost immediately. Evidence against Kirk includes his private log entry about blaming Klingons for the death of his son. Kirk and McCoy are sent to a Klingon prison planet to mine dilithium.

Meanwhile, Spock attempts to find out who really orchestrated the attack on the Klingons, and killed Gorkin.  Piece by piece, he works it out with the help of others on the Enterprise.

I don't want to go into details of how Spock solves the mystery, because that would really spoil the movie.  However, he does uncover a conspiracy between a few Star Fleet officers and Klingon hard-liners to get rid of Gorkin who had really wanted peace between the Klingons and the Federation (that is, his plans were not a feint or something designed to lure the Federation into "a false sense of security" before a Klingon attack.).

Spock then rescues Kirk and McCoy from the prison planet, and they go off to try to prevent an assassination attempt at the new peace conference at "Camp something".  With some help from Sulu and officers on the Excelsior, the Enterprise crew succeeds in saving the Chancellor's daughter, now the new head of the Klingon Empire and thus saves the peace conference.

In his closing monologue, Kirk notes that his crew will make a final cruise (his last line is, "Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning," a quote from Peter Pan) then return to Earth to stand down for retirement and a new crew will continue to explore where no man or no one has gone before.  The closing credits include the signatures of the original Enterprise crew (Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, Doohan, Nichols, Keonig, and Takei).

Star Trek VI is essentially a murder mystery with cold war trappings.  Klingons quoting Shakespeare and a reference to The Manchurian Candidate are thrown in as well.  But though that may seem to sound like it's not that good a movie, I actually enjoyed it.  I found Star Trek VI to be fun - really fun.  First, no one dies in this film.  OK, the Klingon chancellor dies, but really - he's playing the part of a murder victim, in a story where our heroes must solve a crime.  But it's not like Wrath of Khan where Spock dies, or where the Enterprise herself is destroyed.  As is frequently the case with Star Trek, the trappings of the film are definitely Cold War.  The Federation is clear the US/the West and the Klingons are clearly the Russians. Even the guard on the prison planet introduces it as a "gulag" (Russian for "prison") and speaks with a Russian accent.  The Klingon chancellor who genuinely seeks peace is Gorkin, very similar to Gorbachev.  And the incident that starts the film, the explosion on Praxis, was clearly inspired by the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor disaster in 1986.

What is surprising about the film is the amount of prejudice and hatred we see from characters we know and care about.  It isn't just Kirk who "hates Klingons".  Throughout the first half of the film, all sorts of nasty remarks are made about the Klingons, from "They don't place the same value on life as us," to "Did you see the way they eat?"  It was really quite disturbing.

But what makes the film work is the murder mystery aspect.  Again, we know Kirk isn't guilty - but the evidence seems indisputable.  So not only must Spock discover who did it - he must discover "how did it", which is always more interesting. And Spock makes for a fine detective, he even quotes Sherlock Holmes, "An ancestor of mine maintained that if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remians, however, improbable must be the truth."  Yes, that's right, Spock refers to Holmes as an "ancestor".  Which suggests that in the Star Trek universe Sherlock Holmes was real, and that quite probably he was the result of a time traveling Vulcan experiment (and yes, I want to see that story!) Anyway, I enjoyed the mystery aspect, and Spock, step by step, figuring out what happened, how it happened, and ultimately - who was really responsible.

I hadn't seen this film probably since I saw it in the theater when it originally was released, and I remembered enjoying it then.  The DVD copy I watched, I actually picked up second-hand a year or so ago.  I think at the time, especially with Chernobyl, Glasnost, and Perestroika, and Gorbachev fresh in people's minds - the Cold War plot would have had more meaning.  Now it seems like set dressing.  However, what really caught my attention was that Praxis was destroyed by over-mining and lack of safety precautions, resulting in an environmental disaster that would, eventually, destroy the Klingon homeworld.  That the Klingon Empire spent so much on the military and arms it couldn't even do anything about it, also caught my attention.  Because both those things seem much more appropriate now - and not in Russia.

Recommendation:  See it
Rating:  4 out of 5
Next Film:  Shall We Dance (Japan, 1996)