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Hard Hobbit To Break
The internets have been buzzing again - do they ever relax? - over the big announcement that Peter Jackson has buried his long-standing grudge with New Line, and together they will produce two films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit.
Jackson has announced that he will not direct the films. This has set off a tidal wave of speculation about who will take over the franchise. The names at the top of the list include Sam Raimi and Guillermo Del Toro.
It seems to me that everyone is forgetting one obvious choice.
Don’t make the films.
Sure, they will be enormous financial windfalls for everyone involved in their production. Yes, the world Jackson created from Tolkien’s masterpiece is widely-beloved and sorely missed at the multiplex. But so much more hangs in the balance.
When George Lucas drew up plans in 1994 to revisit his bank account far, far away, everyone vibrated excitedly; we missed those characters and situations that had transformed pop culture. The reality, though, is that time and money ruined an entire saga. The prequels, though financially successful, were limp and stagnant affairs; they lacked the spark of inspiration that had ignited the original films.
Jackson and Raimi are fat cat Hollywood directors now. Both have, to varying degrees, succumbed to the bloat and excess that marred Lucas’ return to the chair. Watching King Kong’s excess, or the truly bizarre and unrestrained choices made by Raimi in the last two Spiderman films, makes one wonder what damage they might do to a simple tale like The Hobbit.
Del Toro might manage to make a better film from the source material, but even he has been known to have trouble correctly adapting the works of others. I mean, can you really sit through Blade 2? Or Hellboy? I thought not.
Regardless of what director you place behind the camera, the stuff in front of the camera is just as troubling. The storyline to The Hobbitis a fairly bland affair in comparison to the superior Rings trilogy. And while bringing Gollum back only requires a few flicks of a mouse, Ian McKellan(Gandalf) is getting precipitously close to checking out, and Ian Holm(Bilbo Baggins) is ten years older as well. Any attempt to make these films resonate with audiences requires that you utilize these actors.
I prefer to remember Jackson’s Rings trilogy as a once-in-a-lifetime event - regardless of what critics like Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere think about Jackson. I’m afraid that any attempt to recapture the magic of the Rings trilogy will only be fraught with disappointment and defeat.
It will never be able to match this brilliant cinematic moment. Ever.
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5 Responses to “Hard Hobbit To Break”
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Excellent post, Ray, and I’ve linked to it today from my “From the brains of other bloggers” box in my sidebar.
I’ve had the same thought since LOTR won all of its Oscars and talk quickly turned to adapting The Hobbit. There’s very little material in the Hobbit that hasn’t already been covered in the trilogy - an evil ring, a good person tempted toward evil, a battle with other-worldly beasts and fortuitous assistance from a benevolent wizard - and the fact that Iam Holm simply would NOT be able to hold up two more films without being recreated through CGI just points up how silly and fan-screwing this could become.
I’ll disagree a little with you that Raimi and Del Toro would be bad fits - Hellboy is watchable if forgettable and Raimi’s last two Spider-Man films were bizarre and unrestrained? Really? You remember that there were only three films and the second one was pretty fantastic, right?
But ultimately we’re agreeing. Hobbit movie = pointless and shallow money-grab.
@ Burbanked - I wasn’t a huge fan of the second Spiderman film. It had some cool moments, but I truly despised the ending, and I thought some of the emotional stuff was unbearable. Had Raimi directed LOTR, the Sam/Frodo lovefest would have been beyond uncomfortable.
Raimi might not have a strong hand when it comes to the emotional stuff, I’ll certainly allow you that.
But I’d also place many, many of the franchise’s weaknesses in this regard right at the feet of Kirsten Dunst. No one will ever convince me that Parker’s years and years of silent, desperate yearning could possibly be focused on her.
@ Burbanked - Well, I felt the way you do about Kirsten Dunst, until I heard her sing. Ahhhh … the voice of an angel!!!
You right Ray, it would be tough to even come close to LOTR. That opening sequence is one of the most brilliant things ever put on film. Cate Blanchette is right up there with Morgan Freeman as far as narrators go.
I do think though that it is possible to pull this off. Not with Sam Raimi. Del Torro would be a decent choice, but I wouldn’t doubt if in the end Jackson steps behind the camera.