I was also struck by the politicization of the plot. If AUJ was largely about Bilbo leaving the Shire, then DoS was about interacting with various people who neither like nor trust you, with all the effects of long-term cultural isolationism and stubbornness. It was also about material possessions and economics, from Thorin's troubling prioritization of the Arkenstone over Bilbo's wellbeing (and his team's morale and better judgment), to Bard's (possibly Marxist?) clash with authority, to Smaug...well...sleeping under a literal giant-ass pile of gold. In Laketown, Thorin's in no position to make an Aragorn or Theoden-style Saint Crispin's Day speech; the best he can do is appeal to the citizens' (understandable) desire for economic prosperity, and, unsurprisingly, it works.
The only characters in the movie who seem to really "get" it are Gandalf (because he's Gandalf), Tauriel, who understands that she's part of a wider, interconnected world, and, at the end, Bilbo with his wonderful, horrified closing line. I tend to think that it makes for a darker picture than even the bleakest moments of LotR and (some of the Silm), if only because, at bottom, the quest is not really remotely about saving the world, but about Getting Our Stuff Back. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
I like Tauriel, too. I'm calling it right now that she dies in the Battle of the Five Armies trying to save either Kili or Legolas. Speaking of female characters, I also appreciate that they gave Bard two daughters as well as his canonical son, even if they didn't get to do much.
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Date: 2013-12-24 02:10 am (UTC)The only characters in the movie who seem to really "get" it are Gandalf (because he's Gandalf), Tauriel, who understands that she's part of a wider, interconnected world, and, at the end, Bilbo with his wonderful, horrified closing line. I tend to think that it makes for a darker picture than even the bleakest moments of LotR and (some of the Silm), if only because, at bottom, the quest is not really remotely about saving the world, but about Getting Our Stuff Back. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
I like Tauriel, too. I'm calling it right now that she dies in the Battle of the Five Armies trying to save either Kili or Legolas. Speaking of female characters, I also appreciate that they gave Bard two daughters as well as his canonical son, even if they didn't get to do much.