Bilbo's Labyrinth?
The two Hobbit movies haven't been written yet, but they're close to getting a director: Guillermo del Toro. (Thanks to filmchat for the link.)
On the plus side, the guy's apparently visually creative and good with the monsters--which bodes well for the spiders and, of course, for Smaug. (The spiders I might not watch. A good dragon on the big screen, though? That's worth nine dollars.)
But I have to say, I'm a little worried about the whole thing. I hate the idea of the second movie--a link between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, which will be only loosely based on Tolkien's writings and (unless the writers are very careful) could create all sorts of continuity problems. I haven't seen any of del Toro's movies, so I'm not really sure what to think. (I may have to watch Pan's Labyrinth now. . .) By all accounts he's a gifted director, but he seems to have a penchant for darkness and disturbingness. Not ideal for The Hobbit, which is much lighter in tone than The Lord of the Rings--a children's adventure story rather than a prose epic.
But at least the Lord of the Rings people won't be writing this one. I love the trilogy, and always will; but it has some serious weaknesses on the writing side--and the characterization of Gimli is particularly bad. With different writers, there's a chance the Dwarves in the Hobbit will get to be more than awkward comic relief.
And since Peter Jackson is involved, we'll probably get to see more of Ian McKellen's Gandalf. Which is definitely a good thing.
On the plus side, the guy's apparently visually creative and good with the monsters--which bodes well for the spiders and, of course, for Smaug. (The spiders I might not watch. A good dragon on the big screen, though? That's worth nine dollars.)
But I have to say, I'm a little worried about the whole thing. I hate the idea of the second movie--a link between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring, which will be only loosely based on Tolkien's writings and (unless the writers are very careful) could create all sorts of continuity problems. I haven't seen any of del Toro's movies, so I'm not really sure what to think. (I may have to watch Pan's Labyrinth now. . .) By all accounts he's a gifted director, but he seems to have a penchant for darkness and disturbingness. Not ideal for The Hobbit, which is much lighter in tone than The Lord of the Rings--a children's adventure story rather than a prose epic.
But at least the Lord of the Rings people won't be writing this one. I love the trilogy, and always will; but it has some serious weaknesses on the writing side--and the characterization of Gimli is particularly bad. With different writers, there's a chance the Dwarves in the Hobbit will get to be more than awkward comic relief.
And since Peter Jackson is involved, we'll probably get to see more of Ian McKellen's Gandalf. Which is definitely a good thing.
Labels: movie news, The Hobbit
posted by erendis nasard at 10:02 AM
6 Comments:
wait, I thought Pete was directing?
No, he's executive-producing.
He was already committed to Lovely Bones and Tintin, so he wouldn't be free to direct for another couple of years at least.
Del Toro, huh? That's exciting.
I'm actually more comfortable with a "darker" visioned director who might give weight to bits like like the bears and the Lake Men than one who would continue the tradition of ill-conceived comic relief.
Mmm... I thought Pan's Labyrinth something of a failure as a fairy tale (the evil was too much clearer than the good for my taste), although the imagery was interesting. And it was awfully gruesome in places.
That being said, The Hobbit should at least be visually interesting. And the director may not make all his movies in quite the same way.
post? please?
I know you have about a million thoughts by now that should be shared
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