Review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) by Wesley M — 17 Sep 2014

Peter Jackson Killed JRR Tolkien.

I find it very hard to detect any trace of the rare magic that is JRR Tolkien in any of Jackson's works (with the ironic exception of Radagast's cameo appearance in An Unexpected Journey, which was never in The Hobbit). It's as if Jackson intended to write Tolkien out of the story. How could someone who has read and admired the writings of JRR Tolkien find license to alter the characters and story line in such a heavy-handed, broad and simple-minded way? It's like he can't get out of the way of the story. The very fact that Jackson's mediocre and wholesale rewrite of The Hobbit made it past the "drawing board" and all the way to the silver screen speaks to a lack of intelligence on his part and a lack of courage to those in a position to counter him.

Maybe someday, someone will come along and produce/direct a verbatim film wherein the essence of Tolkien is not lost in the process. Unfortunately it may take a while for the film industry to realize that The Hobbit (as well as The Lord of the Rings) was never truly adapted to film.

I sincerely hope that Peter Jackson can someday create a story (of his own) that can rise to the level of JRR Tolkien. Hopefully then he will cease to butcher the works of the great masters and discover that well-financed tenacity has nothing what-so-ever to do with talent.

I am thankful that Jackson is not an astronaut, for if he were he would have surely found a way to shit on the morning star.