Why I Hate Peter Jackson: Excess

Well, I finally made it through the opening montage. Peter Jackson even managed to throw in a few shots of New Zealand scenery.

Lessons we learned in the montage, which by my clock was nearly nine minutes long:

1. Dragons love gold

2. There is an expensive jewel called the Arkenstone buried in the gold

3. Thorin hates elves because they wouldn’t come and help him fight a hopeless battle against Smaug

4. Ummm, New Zealand has some pretty mountains?

That’s it. Nine minutes of opening screen time to learn a few basic facts that could have been revealed much later in the course of the story. Why not just start in the Shire and keep these things a mystery for now???

Minutes Watched: 08.53

Number of Montages: 1

Start at the beginning

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