A Student's Response to "The Hobbit"

I took my students from Penn State and LCCC (along with a whole bunch of friends and friends-once-removed) to see The Hobbit on Monday. Here is one student's response. 

by Alicia Martinez

            I went to see the movie The Hobbit the other day, and it was better than I thought. At the beginning of the movie, the introduction kept me interested. Now, I have never read the book The Hobbit, but after seeing the movie it made me want to read it. While the movie was playing I was noticing the good quality of the visual effects. The imagery of the fields was beautiful. The altering of human features to fit the character’s role in the movie is amazing. For example, the big feet of the hobbit, the size of the dwarfs and elves, even Gollum! Also, the graphics for the battle scenes seen really realistic, and I felt part of it. Visually, the use of lighting and shades gave each scene a special tone or mood. Colors could also set the mood, for example the use of a sad color in a background such as light orange or dark blue or a raging red for the flames to give the impression of terror and destruction. The sound effects were also a big part of the movie and it made the experience more thrilling. While the thumps, splashes, booms, smacks, whoops and whoosh of every move were all a feeling of reality. I could hear the screech of the sword against sword, and it gave me goose bumps. Another sound would have been when someone would get hit. It sounded so real that I felt like I was the one that got hit.

            The overall the performance of the actors was spectacular. I know that the person that does the physical movements of Gollum must have been in a lot of pain from crouching all the time. The use of comedy gave the movie different view. Illustrating that the movie was not just about saving something, but about an adventure full of exciting, happy, sad and terrifying moments. Besides it’s comedy, the movie contained inspiring thoughts. For instance when Gandalf explains Bilbo what real courage is about. In general I did enjoy the movie.