Enemies Around Every Corner: Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor Sinks On Playability!

The Good: Good graphics, Some of the gameplay
The Bad: Unclear objectives, Narrative is not linear, AI cheats (seriously), Basic visibility
The Basics: Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor is a good idea for a game, but it is poorly constructed for those who want a straightforward, fair game that makes sense.


I never expected to be a gamer. The truth is, I am not a gamer of any real caliber. I love playing Star Wars Battlefront, but I loathe playing it against stoner teenagers who send hate messages because, well, I'm not great at the game. My brother-in-law thought it might be a good idea for me to branch out from Star Wars Battlefront and based on the type of game and my appreciation for science fiction and fantasy, he recommended Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor. So, I started playing Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor.

I played Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor for one hundred fifty hours and it is worth noting up front that I did not complete any of the stories. Usually, I wait until I complete a game as close to 100% before I review it. However, I came to find Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor unplayable, so I gave up on it. If one hundred fifty hours of gameplay is not enough to sell me on a game, though, I think it's fair to review it without finishing it.

Basics

Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor is a role playing video game set in the universe of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novels and the Peter Jackson cinematic adaptations. The video game is split into two basic parts: story points for the linear narratives and free-play. Both styles of game are accessed through maps of Mordor with towers that act as safe points for the player. Free-play allows the player to wander Middle-Earth collecting herbs, pounding spiders, finding runes, upgrading weapons and killing Orcs.

There are also map points that indicate story points. One of the fundamental problems with Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor is that there are three stories going on at the same time and not a single linear narrative one follows. One can begin pursuing the story of Talion and unlocking his memories or figuring out the mystery of Celebrimbor or escalating attempts to liberate the enslaved humans trapped in Mordor. As a result, one story point has the protagonist following Gollum and another has the protagonist aiding the Orc Ratbag in ascending the ranks of Sauron's army. Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor is absolutely jumbled on the story front and it undermines the gameplay.

Story

Set in Middle Earth, Talion is a human ranger when the forces of Sauron sacrifice him and his family to bring forth the spirit of the Elf Blacksmith Celebrimbor. Rather than work with the forces of darkness, Celebrimbor bonds with Talion. Talion seeks to avenge the death of his wife and child, while Celebrimbor wants to uncover the clues to his existence, as his wraith form is suffering from amnesia. To do that, Talion roams Mordor attempting to overthrow Orcs and Warlords in Sauron's growing army while his wraith counterpart gives him access to supernatural powers. To cause chaos in Sauron's army and get clues to the Elf/Wraith's past, Talion enlists Gollum, freed human slaves and ambitious Orcs.

Game Progression

Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor has Talion unlocking new map points for towers that open up new territory for the player in Mordor. Talion is able to wander around Mordor where he encounters squadrons of Orcs and individual beasts. The player is armed with a sword, a dagger (which may be thrown at medium range) and a bow. By transitioning to the wraith form, the player can climb in an inhuman way and survive impossible falls.

The player basically goes through the free play to visit points to collect runes, weapons upgrades (by completing self-contained missions, like shoot 10 Orcs with headshots to upgrade a bow) and kill Orcs. One of the key elements of the game that I came to loathe was that the AI flat-out cheats. The map offers a comprehensive view of a given area, marking the Orc leaders. I cannot count the number of times I would clear a stronghold of all of the Orcs before getting into a combat with the Orc Captain in an area. I would look at the map, kill everything within a 200 foot radius and then go after the Orc Captain. Once combat with an Orc Captain is begun, it either needs to be completed or one must run away, which causes the player to suffer the consequence of the Captain becoming more powerful. The b.s. aspect of the game was that I would kill everyone around a Captain, then initiate combat with the Captain. Within two or three attacks, I would suddenly find more Orcs attacking me. Where the hell did they come from?! It made no sense.

The other severely problematic aspect of Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor involved various forms of combat unique to the Orc Captain. There are event combats like Feasts and Executions, but the goal of those combats is not made explicit right off the bat. Eventually, the player gets to a high enough level where they learn that to succeed at a Feast, one must poison the Orc's beverages. The problem with that is that each time a player is killed after initiating any form of event combat, all of the Orc Captains level up. In other words, long before one learns how to succeed in a Feast, innumerable Orcs may become far more powerful by "winning" feasts. But the game is not clear. Instead, it gives the player vague directions - i.e. "humiliate" an Orc Captain at an execution. Basic logic made it seem to me like if an Orc Captain is making a big show out of tormenting and killing his political enemy, that he would be humiliated by his captives all being killed at a distance before he even steps close to them.

The game does not progress in any organic way on the story front, either. Instead, there are three types of game points - slave story points, Celebrimbor's story points and Orc army story points. Unfortunately, though, there is no natural progression for the stories. I played to the end of the slave story, while only getting to killing my first Warlord in the Orc army story before I got tired of the game. The elements for Celebrimbor's story seemed to be revealed with no clear order or narrative; the story unfolds randomly based on completing randomly-located mission points.

Effects

Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor was designed for high definition systems, like the Playstation 4, Wii, and similar systems. We played it on the Playstation 4 (reviewed here!) connected to our Sony Bravia HD TV (reviewed here!) and it looked and sounded great. The point of view follows Talion and one of the aspects I truly enjoyed was the mechanism involved with shooting arrows. To represent the skill of the archer aspect of the Elf Wraith, when one focuses in the wraith world, everything slows down, which allows the player to shoot the weapons very fast.

Unfortunately, the effects are one of the severe problems with Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor. Mordor is a dark and dirty place and the Orcs are dark and earth-toned. To play Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor, I had to constantly switch between normal view and wraith view. The wraith view allows the player to actually see all of the enemies and hidden objects. This is great . . . except that then one cannot see real-world impediments like walls. Seriously, it's a pretty crap game where the player cannot see all they actually need to. So, one moment, I'd be hidden behind a cart and in the time it took to switch into wraith vision to see that there were actually Orcs all around me was the exact amount of time the Orcs needed to see me and start attacking me.

The problem with visibility was one of the two key reasons I stopped playing Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor.

Replayability

I could not stand to finish Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor, so I have no idea how replayable the game actually is. That said, I enjoyed a lot of the aspects of the free-play in Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor. Going around killing random Orcs was a lot of fun and some of the self-contained missions to try to get runes for bows and my daggers were actually enjoyable. I really enjoyed doing stealth kills and sneaking around to gruesomely shank Orcs, but it was equally frustrating to quietly kill one adversary only to turn a corner and find a ton of Orc Captains who were able to easily slay me and end the mission I was on.

Overall

As a casual gamer, Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor was far too frustrating to continue with, making it a disappointment.

For other video games, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Injustice - Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition
Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
Angry Birds Star Wars

3.5/10

For other video game reviews, please check out my Software Review Index Page!

© 2016 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Another Year, Another Disappointing Middle Earth Ornament Comes From Hallmark When Smaug Awakens!

The Good: Good balance, Generally all right sculpt
The Bad: Assembled looking, Light, Feels cheap, No sound clip, Simplistic look and feel
The Basics: The 2015 "Smaug Awakens" ornament illustrates Hallmark's continuing lack of enthusiasm for their Middle Earth license.


It seems like every year, I get excited for Hallmark's annual Middle Earth ornament and each year I get righteously disappointed. Sadly, this year is no exception: the 2015 Smaug Awakens ornament is another dismal ornament from a license Hallmark has never managed to render well or make profitable (a relationship between the two, perhaps?!). This year's ornament feels especially like a "screw you" from Hallmark to fans of the films Peter Jackson made based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkein in that it features a base and character big enough to include a sound function (and Benedict Cumberbatch fans would have gone wild for that), but it is a simple, light, mediocrely-rendered ornament.

For those unfamiliar with the idea of the ornament, Smaug Awakens features the Dragon Smaug from The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (reviewed here!) on his pile of gold that he is hoarding. This is very clearly the dragon, awakened and ready to interrogate Bilbo Baggins.

The 2015 Smaug Awakens ornament features both the dragon and his pile of gold, which acts as a base for the giant lizard.

Basics

The "Smaug Awakens" ornament recreates the dragon Smaug in a resting pose, but with is head raised. The ornament, released in 2015, has some decent surface detailing, making it recognizable as the dragon from Peter Jackson's films. This version of Smaug Awakens looks somewhat animated and because the scale of the ornament is fairly small, it is not the most detailed ornament from Hallmark's 2015 line.

Measuring four and one-half inches long, two and a half inches wide and two and one-eighth inches tall, the "Smaug Awakens" ornament is obviously out of scale with prior Middle Earth ornaments! At $17.95, the Smaug Awakens ornament feels very expensive, especially for how light it is.

The Hallmark "Smaug Awakens" ornament is made of a durable plastic and sculpted to look generally like the CG-dragon. Unfortunately, the gold upon which he lays is not metallic at all, so it looks like he's laying on tarnished bronze. The reds and browns of Smaug lack the sense of detail and realism of the CG-model upon which the ornament was based. Still, sculptor Orville Wilson sculpted Smaug's mane surprisingly well. Unfortunately, the ornament has obvious seams, which make it look like it was assembled and attached to the base.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, "Smaug Awakens" could have a sound effect, but it does not. Instead, this is a less-expensive option that is just the character. Given how big the base is, it is especially disappointing that Hallmark did not include Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug's dialogue in the ornament.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake "Smaug Awakens" ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate movie nostalgia Christmas Tree, the "Smaug Awakens" ornament is just too disappointing to justify adding. The ornament has the standard brass hook loop embedded into the center of Smaug's back. This is fairly obvious and necessary for the ornament. Hanging there, the ornament has good balance. The base being as light as it is, the fact that the balance is decent is important and made fairly obvious.

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition original U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (click here for that review!). Within a few years, every major franchise from Star Wars to A Nightmare Before Christmas to Indiana Jones started making Hallmark ornaments. "Smaug Awakens" is one of only a few Middle Earth ornaments on the market and it is the only one from The Hobbit this year. Between the mediocre quality and the short half-life of Middle Earth-related merchandise, investors have no real incentive to pick up this ornament, certainly not at Hallmark's original release price.

Overview

Fans of the Middle Earth franchise, dragons, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Hallmark ornaments are likely to all be disappointed by the Smaug Awakens ornament, making it one of the few big flops of Hallmark's 2015 ornament line.

For other Hallmark Middle Earth ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2014 Thorin Oakenshield The Hobbit ornament
2013 Bilbo Baggins The Hobbit ornament
2012 Gandalf The Gray The Lord Of The Rings ornament

2.5/10

For other ornament reviews, please visit my Ornament Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Peter Jackson Fails To Make The Hobbit Legendary With The Complete Motion Picture Trilogy Collection!

The Good: Acting is fine, Plot develops fine, Special effects
The Bad: Unremarkable plot, Reversals, Ridiculously low character development
The Basics: The Hobbit Trilogy is not Peter Jackson’s crowning achievement as it dilutes the magnificence of his The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy.


When New Line and MGM decided to make The Hobbit, I was one of the people who was exceptionally happy when Guillermo Del Toro was replaced with Peter Jackson. Peter Jackson did an incredible job at adapting J.R.R. Tolkein’s novels to make his cinematic The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (reviewed here!). Unfortunately, Jackson was unable to get lightning to strike twice by making The Hobbit Trilogy equally memorable and impressive.

The Hobbit Trilogy is a surprisingly uncomplicated film series that is a prequel to The Lord Of The Rings. The film collection for The Hobbit consists of:
An Unexpected Journey
The Desolation Of Smaug
The Battle Of The Five Armies

The Hobbit Trilogy is set in Middle Earth and is set well before The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy and includes important elements that lead into the Trilogy Jackson produced a decade prior. As Middle Earth darkens from the emerging presence of Sauron, the wizard Gandalf The Grey visits Hobbiton. There, he enlists the restless hobbit, Bilbo, to join a company of dwarves that is headed to the ruined dwarven city of Erebor. Bilbo is hired to be the company’s burglar, which Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield – the leader of the company and the presumptive king of the dwarves – believe they will need as Erebor is under the oppressive control of the dragon Smaug. Setting out from Hobbiton, the company of dwarves runs afoul of trolls, orcs and immense spiders which all threaten their chances of getting to Erebor. In the kingdom of the goblins, underground, Bilbo is separated from the dwarves and he encounters Gollum, a creature whom he exchanges riddles with. He escapes thanks to finding a ring of invisibility by chance.

The company escapes into the realm of the Elves, who distrust the dwarves. Once the Dwarves arrive at the Lonely Mountain, they find the Dwarven Nation impossible to enter, until Bilbo figures out how to find the secret door. Entering the mountain realm, Bilbo squares off against Smaug. In doing so, Bilbo inadvertently enrages the dragon and it goes out and destroys the nearby human city of Laketown. With Smaug no longer looking over the mountains of treasures in the Dwarven Nation, the humans, orcs, and elves descend upon the Lonely Mountain to take the gold. But the company is beset from within by Thorin, who has become obsessed with the treasure and the mythical Arkenstone which will solidify his claim to the dwarven throne.

The Hobbit is a very straightforward quest story and after witnessing the quest to destroy the source of all evil in Middle Earth, there is something incredibly underwhelming about a story that eventually gets around to being about one man’s obsession. Thorin Oakenshield is determined until late in the story when he becomes absolutely obsessed with hoarding the same riches that Smaug accumulated. Unlike the One Ring, which is fueled by Sauron’s evil, the mountain of gold has no supernatural reason for the obsession it brings to Thorin, Smaug, and all the others who covet it.

The company of dwarves is surprisingly large – a dozen strong – but only three of them are actually distinct. Thorin, the aged Balin and the young, elf-loving Kili are the dwarves with substantive characters. The rest are just filler and that makes it hard to invest in the bulk of the company.

The Hobbit features Martin Freeman as Bilbo and the role is unlike any of his other parts. He is not at all goofy, not regulated to simply supporting another, more forceful actor. Instead, he perfectly embodies Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo is clever and ethical. He has the heart of an explorer from a people who usually want to simply be left alone and Freeman finds the balance incredibly well.

Director Peter Jackson makes Middle Earth look as amazing as he did in The Lord Of The Rings. The story of The Hobbit might not be exceptional, but the look and feel of it is consistent with the rest of Jackson’s Middle Earth Saga. As a result, The Hobbit stands as a testament that style cannot sell an inferior story that lacks impressive characters.

For other works with Martin Freeman, please check out my reviews of:
The World’s End
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
Love Actually

6/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Peter Jackson Convinces Fans To Return To Middle Earth One More Time With The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies!

The Good: Decent performances, Generally good effects, Much of the plot development and theme resolutions, Special effects
The Bad: Light on character development, Predictable plot repetition, Begins at an awkward place/resolves oddly
The Basics: Likely to work much better in context, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies holds up poorly on its own, though it is entertaining-enough!


As we reach the end of the year, the final big film of the year has hit theaters. It is, of course, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, the final of three films in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy. The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is a final act in the three-film journey that had Bilbo Baggins joining a company of Dwarves on their quest to retake the Dwarven land of Erebor. The thing about The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is that it becomes the perfect argument against what Peter Jackson did with turning the single novel The Hobbit into three films. The final film of The Hobbit stands very poorly on its own.

Filled with subplots and the end of character arcs, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies hits the ground running without any explanation, prologue or attempts at explicitly connecting to the prior film. The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is an immediate follow-up to The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (reviewed here!) and opens with the world of Middle Earth turned up on its end and it ends with an anticlimax that returns Peter Jackson to his horror roots. At least he does not force the audience to endure multiple endings, a la The Return Of The King (reviewed here!).

With Smaug furious and released from his mountain prison in Erebor, the dragon turns his attention on nearby Laketown. Burning Laketown down with his flame breath, Smaug runs afoul of Bard, who was imprisoned by the master of Laketown. Using the ancient weapon designed for such purpose, Bark kills Smaug and news soon spreads through Middle Earth that Smaug is dead and Erebor is ill-defended and filled with treasure beyond measure. Inside the mountain stronghold of Erebor, Thorin Oakenshield becomes obsessed with finding the Arkenstone and he is driven mad with desire for the treasure. Confirming that Thorin’s condition is not likely to get better should he get the Arkenstone, Bilbo keeps the stone hidden from him. Seeing that Thorin’s party has survived, Fili, Kili and those who were stuck in Laketown head to Erebor, with Kili telling the elf maiden Tauriel he is in love with her.

When the Elves and refugees from Laketown arrive at Dale, the human ruins adjacent to the Dwarven kingdom, Thorin feels threatened. Gandalf is rescued from his prison by Galadrial, Radagast, and Saruman, in the process pushing the non-corporeal version of Sauron back in the process. As Gandalf makes his way to the ruins of Dale, Bilbo sneaks out from under Thorin’s nose to do the same. There, Bilbo tries to broker a deal between Thranduil, King Of The Elves, and Bard before war breaks out. Thorin is withholding promised gold to Bard and the refugees and the return of gems stolen from the Elves; Bilbo presents Thranduil with the Arkenstone to use in trade for the treasures Thorin is holding. Thorin’s determination to let the Elves and humans attack is bolstered when the main force of the Dwarven Army arrives to repel them. Almost immediately, though, Orcs attack and the humans, Dwarves and Elves find themselves united against two armies of Orcs led by Azog The Defiler. As the struggle for Middle Earth is fought before them, Thorin shakes off his dragon sickness to begin a very personal fight against Azog!

The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is surprisingly fast-paced for a film with a running time over two and a half hours. Despite having plotlines that seem incongruent with the main plot surrounding Thorin Oakenshield and his madness fueled by greed for the Arkenstone, like the Kili and Tauriel love story, the recurring weasel Alfrid, the rescue of Gandalf, and the conflict between Legolas and his own father (Thranduil), the pacing of The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is remarkably tight.

In fact, almost all of the actual issues surrounding The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies involve how the film fails to stand on its own or how it fits into Peter Jackson’s larger Middle Earth Saga. On its own, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is a film that is mired by its failure to explain itself. It begins with Thorin mad and having achieved most of his goals. In The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, Thorin has a somewhat unexplained obsession (the importance of the Arkenstone is vastly understated in the film), goes mad and overcomes it on the strength of his own will (not reason or the threat of being wiped out). Similarly, Gandalf’s imprisonment is not explained within the film; the whole Necromancer concept seems dropped in The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies!

In the context of Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth Saga, the big issue in The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies is Legolas. Legolas has one truly huge character moment in Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings Saga (reviewed here!). Legolas witnesses Elven death at the Battle Of Helm’s Deep and it leaves him shocked and shaken (in the commentary tracks, Jackson talks about how he has never seen Elves die because they are otherwise immortal). With that in mind, Legolas’s place in The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies seems utterly ridiculous. We are meant to believe that Legolas arrives at the field of battle, albeit late, and sees none of the elven bodies around that his father does?! Come on!

That said, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies has pretty wonderful acting, getting viewers to invest in the characters, no matter how minor they are. The film has issues in the larger context, like how the eagles play the same trick as in The Lord Of The Rings (Tolkien’s fault, not Jackson’s) and a bloated cast that leaves the majority of the dwarves in the company unexplored as far as fleshing out actual characters, but the performers all play credibly in the environment. Luke Evans shines as Bard and Richard Armitage manages to make Thorin’s tormented persona pop on the screen.

Ultimately, The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies finishes Peter Jackson’s tenure as a master of Tolkein’s works for screen with a film that ties everything together, even if it does not stand very magnificently on its own.

For other films currently in theaters, please check out my reviews of:
To Write Love On Her Arms
The Voices
Love, Rosie
The Seventh Son
Song One
Match
Vice
American Sniper
Paddington
Inherent Vice
Selma
Still Alice
Predestination
Expelled
Annie
Comet
The Imitation Game

6.5/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Fun And Worth Seeing To The End, Lego The Lord Of The Rings Is A Wonderful Game!

The Good: Fun, Can be won, Decent challenge, Neat “bonus” features
The Bad: Silly concept, Camera perspective issues
The Basics: Lego The Lord Of The Rings is fun and goofy and worth playing for fans of the Middle Earth Saga!


Just over six years ago, the woman who would become my wife and I met. To celebrate that anniversary, my wife surprised me with LEGO The Lord Of The Rings - I reciprocated with Guardians Of The Galaxy (reviewed here!) on Blu-Ray. LEGO The Lord Of The Rings was her gift to me because she wanted me to relax and do something fun. I thought that was very sweet of her and she chose it for me because I had enjoyed LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (reviewed here!) for me a few years back. So, while much of the rest of the country was revisiting Middle Earth for Peter Jackson’s final installment of The Hobbit, I was home, working my way through the entirety of LEGO The Lord Of The Rings!

LEGO The Lord Of The Rings is surprisingly cool and very fun. In fact, the more I think about the weird concept of LEGO The Lord Of The Rings, the more I like it. The idea of reworking The Lord Of The Rings in a LEGO framework is a neat one; it makes the video game experience more than a simple rehash of the Lord Of The Rings Saga in video game form.

Basics

Lego The Lord Of The Rings is a video game interpretation of the The Lord Of The Rings Saga (reviewed here!) where the characters and settings are constructed entirely of Legos. Animated with the joint structure of Lego mini-figures, one or two players team up and run around the LEGO version of Middle Earth, in the same order as the films themselves.

Almost exclusively focused on the characters of Middle Earth, players run around shooting, jumping, using magic, using elven rope and bows and arrows to achieve goals and kill adversaries like Orcs, Sauron, and Saruman’s forces near the forest of the Ents. With the destruction of each enemy, Lego pieces explode and change to coins. Players collect coins to purchase objects, weapons, and new characters around Middle Earth and at the blacksmith’s shop. By using the left and right keys, one may toggle between the characters they have available and as one becomes more adept in the game, it helps to assemble a team that allows the player to toggle between archers, jumpers, dwarves with power hits, wizards with magic, and Sam with his ability to do useful things like light fires. With Gollum and one super-strong character, one has access to all areas with a level.

After the successful completion of a level, the player may replay levels to find red blocks and additional treasure chests, which unlock greater abilities and secret levels. In the free play mode, the character may wander more and find things at their own pace, as well as enjoy levels outside of a time limit or imminent threat.

Story

Set in the universe of The Lord Of The Rings, Lego The Lord Of The Rings follows the plot of the J.R.R. Tolkein books and Peter Jackson film series. Starting with Frodo and the Hobbits, Frodo meets Strider and is reunited with Gandalf in Rivendale. From there, the Fellowship of the Ring crosses Middle Earth until the characters are separated and they head to Mount Doom as part of different groups.

Game Progression

Lego The Lord Of The Rings is a pretty straightforward video game with a view that is slightly back from the character the player is playing. The net effect is that the view is like being followed around by a camera, as opposed to a first-person shooter style game. The perspective issue actually becomes problematic at times when the “camera” does not follow the view of the player. Trying to jump up bouncing flowers, for example, requires one try to rotate the view (with the left joystick) in order to genuinely see what is going on on screen. At times the perspective can be very skewed, making it confusing how one is moving, especially when on a horse or jumping up and around a tower. The perspective issue can be very problematic when it comes to jumping in different directions, three-dimensionally.

The gameplay actually peaks in its challenge with the Battle Of Pelenior Fields. Trying to use the archer to bring down to Oliphant is an art that takes a lot of time to master! Outside that challenge, most of the basic portions of the game are easy enough to pass, though they are fun to go through. Lego The Lord Of The Rings has a fair learning curve, but it remains accessible.

Effects

The Lego The Lord Of The Rings game was designed for high definition systems, like the Playstation 3 (reviewed here!). We played it on the Playstation 3 connected to our Sony Bravia HD TV (reviewed here!) and it looked and sounded amazing. The figures have an unsurprisingly blockish form to them, which makes sense because they are Lego renditions of the characters. The backgrounds and buildings, however, are immaculate in the way they are represented.

The sound effects are accurate to the sound effects on the original The Lord Of The Rings for things like blasts of magic, fireworks, swords clanging, and Orcs screaming. When things are destroyed, though they sound like Lego blocks rattling around.

Replayability

Because Lego The Lord Of The Rings has the linear narrative and the free play available for each level, replayability is surprisingly high. On several levels, I was gratified to finally pass the board and move on. However, to unlock more bonus levels, one must go back and do better, find quest objects hidden throughout, and earn more points. As a result, Lego The Lord Of The Rings actually has decent replayability as one works to go from simple accomplishment to a more comprehensive exploration of each level to achieve more.

Overall

The Lego The Lord Of The Rings is very neat. With plenty to do and ways to develop from a basic game experience to a more accomplishment-driven one, LEGO The Lord Of The Rings is well worth playing over and over again!

For other The Lord Of The Rings game reviews, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Shadows The Lord Of The Rings Trading Card Game
The Lord Of The Rings pinball
The Lord Of The Rings RISK

8/10

For other video game reviews, please check out my index page on the subject by visiting my Software Review Index Page!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Middle Earth Mediocrity: The 2014 Thorin Oakenshield Ornament Underwhelms!

The Good: Good balance, Decent sculpt, Affordable
The Bad: Severe coloring issues, Animated look
The Basics: The 2014 "Thorin Oakenshield" ornament continues Hallmark’s line of somewhat disappointing ornaments from Middle Earth.


For as much as I love Hallmark ornaments and Peter Jackson’s interpretations of J.R.R. Tolkein’s Middle Earth books, Hallmark has yet to commit to creating truly amazing ornaments from The Lord Of The Rings and The Hobbit. Focusing only on the characters so far, Hallmark’s The Hobbit ornaments are unfortunately underdetailed and while the sculpts can be good, they have yet to get skin tones right on their Middle Earth character ornaments. Thorin Oakenshield is this year’s The Hobbit ornament and he certainly suffers from the coloring defect that Hallmark has had for their Middle Earth line.

For those unfamiliar with the idea of the ornament, Thorin Oakenshield features the dwarf leader from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (reviewed here!) and The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (reviewed here!). This is Thorin Oakenshield, ready to slice down orcs and ogres with his sword. He is in a running pose and the ornament actually looks quite a bit like Richard Armitage, who plays Thorin Oakenshield.

Basics

The "Thorin Oakenshield" ornament recreates Thorin Oakenshield in his armor and traveling coat with his hands raised to hold his sword in a two-handed grasp. The ornament, released in 2014, is a pretty well-detailed sculpt of Thorin Oakenshield, as portrayed by Richard Armitage. This version of Thorin Oakenshield looks unfortunately animated, though most of the sculpt is adequate when compared to the live-action reference.

Hallmark only seemed to make an effort on the molding with his belt buckle and the armor that is visible on Thorin Oakenshield’s shoulders. The fine work on the boots and hair is not indicative of the entire ornament. The back of the coat and the travel armor is less deep and detailed than the rest of the ornament. The facial sculpt, though, does look like Richard Armitage. Measuring four and one-quarter inches tall, three and a half inches wide and two and one-half inches deep, the "Thorin Oakenshield" ornament is one of the larger Hallmark character ornaments this year and it is not at all in proportion to the prior Middle Earth ornaments that were released in prior years! At $17.95, the Thorin Oakenshield ornament is, admittedly, one of the more affordable genre ornaments this season, though for the quality of the ornament makes it seem pricy.

The Hallmark "Thorin Oakenshield" ornament is made of a durable plastic and sculpted to look generally like Richard Armitage. The coloring for the skin is monotonal, which makes the skin look cartoonish as opposed to realistic. The hair on Thorin Oakenshield’s head is straight black with a little white stripe. As well, the clean costume is colored in single colors without any realistic depth and shading. The silvery color of the belt and armor is realistic and pretty good.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, "Thorin Oakenshield" could have a sound effect, but it does not. Instead, this is a less-expensive option that is just the character.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake "Thorin Oakenshield" ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate movie nostalgia Christmas Tree, the "Thorin Oakenshield" ornament is very much an esoteric and extravagant ornament. The ornament has the standard steel hook loop embedded into the top of Thorin Oakenshield's head. This is fairly obvious and necessary for the ornament. Hanging there, the ornament has good balance.

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition original U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (click here for that review!). Within a few years, every major franchise from Star Wars to A Nightmare Before Christmas to Indiana Jones started making Hallmark ornaments. "Thorin Oakenshield" is one of only a few Middle Earth ornaments on the market and it is the first one truly unique to The Hobbit. Between the mediocre quality and the short half-life of Middle Earth-related merchandise, investors might want to wait until this is half price before picking up the ornament!

Overview

Fans of the Middle Earth franchise, Richard Armitage, and Hallmark ornaments are likely to all be disappointed by the execution of the Thorin Oakenshield ornament, though it is not at all the worst Hallmark rendition of a character from The Hobbit!

For other Hallmark Middle Earth and fantasy-related ornaments, please check out my reviews of:
2013 Bilbo Baggins The Hobbit ornament
2012 Gandalf The Gray The Lord Of The Rings ornament
2013 The Sorting Hat Harry Potter ornament
2013 Pirates Of The Caribbean

4.5/10

For other ornament reviews, please visit my Ornament Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Journey Builds, But Is Not Resolved, In The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug

The Good: Decent acting, Special effects, Moments of character
The Bad: Very much a transition movie
The Basics: Suffering from all the expected problems of a middle act, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is entertaining, but holds up less well on its own.


In the history of film and plays there have been few things more difficult to pull off successfully than a middle act. Middle acts within a work have the responsibility of moving the plot along and bringing characters to a situation that will require the final act to resolve. The benefit of the middle act is that it can usually move unencumbered by character establishment. As a result, middle acts can be great for character development, but on the plot front there is little in the way of resolution and some people dislike middle acts because – in order for the plot and character development to actually occur, the sense of conflict usually reaches its peak in the middle act. That usually makes middle acts darker and more moody than the initial and final acts.

In terms of trilogies, the middle film usually bears a responsibility that is tough for viewers to reconcile. Many times, they lack the initial spark of the first film in the series and the viewer does not get the elation of resolution that the final film brings. In my mind, the most successful middle act films have been limited to The Empire Strikes Back (reviewed here!) and The Dark Knight (reviewed here!). Unfortunately for fans of Peter Jackson’s interpretations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord Of The Rings (reviewed here!), The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is not going to break that tradition.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug picks up where The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (reviewed here!) left off as the prequel story of Bilbo Baggins’s journey with the dwarves that made him an outsider among the Hobbits of the Shire. The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is, foremost, not a tight film; the movie meanders with side stories that flesh out the various characters and the setting of Middle Earth. But, given how characters like Legolas pop up in The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug without feeling absolutely essential to the main storyline and how Smaug would have been sufficiently villainous without the extensive backstory Peter Jackson includes in the film (courtesy of other volumes Tolkien wrote), the film feels more like an exploration of a fantastic setting rather than a tight character journey that is pushed by the strength of Bilbo Baggins, the menace of Smaug or the failings of Thorin Oakenshield (though all those are factors in The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug).

Following the attack on the Dwarves and Bilbo, the assemblage regroups by fleeing into the residence of a skinchanger (a man who can turn into a giant bear), who hates the orcs more than he hates the dwarves. With Gandalf heading out on his own, the Dwarves and Bilbo enter Mirkwood Forest. There, they encounter giant spiders and Bilbo is instrumental in saving the dwarves from their webs and bites. The elves of Mirkwood surround the Dwarves and capture them. Bilbo helps the Dwarves escape the elves and gets them closer to the Lonely Mountain, where Thorin intends to reclaim the Dwarven homeland. After the barrel ride downstream, the fellowship arrives at the human village of Lake-town. There, the humans warm to the Dwarves as they have been menaced by Smaug once they are exposed and their shifty leader sees an opportunity to usurp the threat.

Thorin calls upon Bilbo to make good on the contract he has with him and Bilbo is sent into the Lonely Mountain. Bilbo enters Smaug’s lair and there he encounters the dragon, setting into motion the events that push Middle Earth toward a war.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug does a decent job of foreshadowing the fatal flaw of Thorin Oakenshield. While The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey painted Thorin as the obvious hero of the prequel Trilogy, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug starts to insinuate that Thorin is not an honorable Dwarf and that his motives for getting into the Lonely Mountain and reclaiming the dwarven kingdom is not based on a noble intent.

The film also does a good job of making Bilbo Baggins seem more morally ambiguous than some of the other Middle Earth films – especially the prior film. Baggins was hired as a thief and while he does several heroic things in The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, he illustrates an aptitude for escape and light-fingered thievery. In fact, in The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug Bilbo Baggins’s actions actually bring surprising destruction at the breath of Smaug. If Thorin’s anger and greed are foreshadowed, it is Bilbo who goes a long way to instigate the incidents that bring those defects to the surface.

The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is entertaining and it illustrates well the range of both Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage. While fans may geek out over the return to the franchise of Orlando Bloom whose career seems to have it its high with The Lord Of The Rings (reviewed here!) and the addition of Evangeline Lilly from Lost (reviewed here!), the real story for The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug comes from Freeman and Armitage. Richard Armitage does a good job of taking a pretty monolithic character of Thorin Oakenshield and adding layers to him. While many of those layers come from written lines, it is Armitage’s performance, his bearing that sells the underlying emotions of the character. Armitage emotes with a fire in his eyes that actually resonates and sells some of the lines that do not quite resonate.

Martin Freeman might well be one of the best comic actors of our time. In The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, he pushes the range of what he can do. He’s been sidekick in Sherlock and an able supporting comedic presence in films like this year’s The World’s End (reviewed here!). As Bilbo Baggins he manages to present a more serious character who is still fun to watch and engaging. In other words, despite moments of goofy body language, Freeman holds his own as a serious and viable character who is fearless in the face of the virtual dragon. Freeman plays Bilbo with a straight face and a sense of moral ambiguity that fits the character perfectly, all without hinting at being the same actor who played any of the other roles he has! Freeman is a perfect chameleon actor in The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug and that sells the reality of the film wonderfully. One never feels like they are watching Martin Freeman; like Ian McKellen (who is all Gandalf all the time he is on screen), Freeman completely embodies his character in the real and virtual sets of Middle Earth.

But, ultimately, even at nearly three hours (one struggles to guess what Peter Jackson will put back into the film for the inevitable Extended Edition), The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug feels like it is just getting started when it reaches its climax. Like most middle act films, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug leaves one wanting more and feeling like they are dependent upon the final act to make a true judgment on how much they enjoyed this film on its own.

For other works with Lee Pace, please check out my reviews of:
Breaking Dawn, Part II
Lincoln
Marmaduke
When In Rome
Pushing Daisies - Season 1
Wonderfalls

7/10

For other film reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Why Doesn’t Hallmark Love Middle Earth?! The 2013 Bilbo Baggins Ornament Flops!

The Good: Affordable, Nice detailing on the ring
The Bad: Severe coloring issues, Animated look, Gaps at seams.
The Basics: The 2013 "Bilbo Baggins" ornament illustrates perfectly that Hallmark is not banking heavily on The Hobbit!


Last year, I found that I was pleasantly surprised that Hallmark had picked up The Hobbit as a keepsake ornament line. While I was generally unimpressed by the Gandalf The Grey ornament (reviewed here!), I was excited that the ornament company had begun producing Middle Earth-themed ornaments again. Unfortunately, like so many companies that merchandised for The Lord Of The Rings when those films were released a decade ago, it seems that Hallmark learned that there is a particularly short half-life for Middle Earth based ornaments and it did not truly invest big in the franchise. That is evident from this year’s ornament outing, Bilbo Baggins. While the ornament has superlative detailing on the molding of the One Ring, the rest of the ornament is particularly anemic and disappointing.

For those unfamiliar with the idea of the ornament, Bilbo Baggins features the hobbit from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (reviewed here!) and the subsequent Hobbit movies still forthcoming. This is Bilbo Baggins, looking like he is contemplating a riddle while holding the One Ring in his hand. This is a more contemplative version of Bilbo than the action-oriented sculpt of Gandalf which was released last year.

Basics

The "Bilbo Baggins" ornament recreates Bilbo Baggins in his traveling coat and short pants with his left hand raised to his chin and his right hand pinching the One Ring of power. The ornament, released in 2013, is a very lightly-detailed sculpt of Bilbo Baggins, as portrayed by Martin Freeman. This version of Bilbo Baggins looks remarkably animated, as opposed to having come from a live-action reference, and it looks unfortunately, poorly, assembled.

Hallmark only seemed to make an effort on the molding with detailing the One Ring. The exceptionally-fine work on the ring, even though it is ridiculously oversized for the hobbit, shows some sophistication. Unfortunately, the rest of the detailing is not as fine. The hair on the feet and on the top of Bilbo Baggins’s head is only passably sculpted on and the ears and costume details are very lightly presented. Measuring four and one-quarter inches tall, one and a half inches wide and one and one-quarter inches deep, the "Bilbo Baggins" ornament is one of the larger Hallmark character ornaments this year and is not exactly in proportion to the Gandalf The Grey ornament that was released last year! At $14.95, the Bilbo Baggins ornament is, admittedly, one of the more affordable genre ornaments this season, further implying that Hallmark is betting low on the viability of merchandise surrounding The Hobbit.

The Hallmark "Bilbo Baggins" ornament is made of a durable plastic and sculpted to look generally like Martin Freeman, though because it lacks significant sculpting details, it looks much more like an animated version of the character as opposed to Freeman’s version of Bilbo. The coloring for the skin is monotonal, save a light blush to the cheeks. The hair on both the head and feet is similarly one-colored. As well, the clean costume is colored in single colors without any realistic depth and shading. Even the buttons on the coat remain unpainted, though the brass buttons on the vest are at least shaded on!

Adding to the disappointment is the fact that the One Ring is a sickly brown color, as opposed to a gold hue. Hallmark did not waste much time going for realism in the coloring or sophistication in the sculpt of the Bilbo Baggins ornament!

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, "Bilbo Baggins" could have a sound effect, but it does not. Instead, this is a less-expensive option that is just the character.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake "Bilbo Baggins" ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate movie nostalgia Christmas Tree, the "Bilbo Baggins" ornament is a conceptually wonderful option, but a poor ornament in execution, making for a real non-starter. The ornament has the standard brass hook loop embedded into the top center of Bilbo Baggins's head. This is fairly obvious and necessary for the ornament. Hanging there, the ornament is fairly well-balanced.

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition original U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (click here for that review!). Within a few years, every major franchise from Star Wars to A Nightmare Before Christmas to Indiana Jones started making Hallmark ornaments. "Bilbo Baggins" is one of only a few Middle Earth ornaments on the market, but it is the first of Bilbo Baggins. Between the mediocre quality and the short half-life of Middle Earth-related merchandise, investors might want to wait until this is half price before stocking up!

Overview

Fans of the Middle Earth franchise, Martin Freeman, and Hallmark ornaments are likely to all be disappointed by the execution of the Bilbo Baggins ornament and find themselves hoping for something better from Hallmark to celebrate the next The Hobbit movie next year!

For other Hallmark genre ornaments released in 2013, please check out my reviews of:
Pirates Of The Caribbean
Hogwarts Castle Harry Potter ornament
Boushh Star Wars Limited Edition ornament
U.S.S. Kelvin Star Trek ornament
Scarlett’s Green Gown Gone With The Wind ornament
At Jabba’s Mercy Star Wars ornament
Iron Patriot Iron Man 3 ornament

2.5/10

For other ornament reviews, please visit my Ornament Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Unfortunately Underdetailed, The Gandalf The Grey Hallmark Ornament Is Still Cool!

The Good: Good sculpt, Generally good coloring detail, Good balance
The Bad: Minor coloring issues, Lack of effect/gimmick
The Basics: The 2012 "Gandalf The Grey" ornament is a weird blend of amazing detailing and underwhelming attention to coloring for the hero of The Hobbit.


As fans flock to theaters this weekend to see the first of the new The Hobbit movies, Hallmark is hoping that enthusiasm translates to sales in the franchise it has not been able to exploit effectively for almost a decade now. When the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy was released, Hallmark dabbled in ornaments, but this franchise has a pretty steep fall-off in merchandising when there is no film out to support it.

For those unfamiliar with the idea of the ornament, Gandalf The Grey features the wizard from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (reviewed here!) or, I suppose, The Fellowship Of The Ring (reviewed here!). This is Gandalf The Grey in an action pose, sword drawn, staff held heroically out before him.

Basics

The "Gandalf The Grey" ornament recreates Gandalf The Grey holding his sword in his right hand and his wizard’s staff in his left. The ornament is just Gandalf The Grey, looking like he is lighting the way and preparing to fend off whatever he sees in the diminishing darkness. The ornament, released in 2012, is a very cool and accurate sculpt of Gandalf The Grey, as portrayed by Sir Ian McKellen. He is not wearing his hat and from his belt hangs his sword’s scabbard.

Hallmark clearly made quite an effort on Gandalf The Grey as he has decent detailing like the buckle on the belt. Measuring five and three-quarters inches tall, three and a half inches wide and one and three-quarter inches deep, the "Gandalf The Grey" ornament is one of the larger Hallmark character ornaments this year. At $14.95, the Gandalf The Grey ornament is also one of the more affordable genre ornaments this season, suggesting that Hallmark is betting low on the viability of merchandise surrounding The Hobbit.

The Hallmark "Gandalf The Grey" ornament is made of a durable plastic and sculpted to look like Sir Ian McKellen in his recognizable role. Hallmark detailed the staff and scabbard well and the cloak even has decent lines of force to make Gandalf look like he is swirling around. The coloring detailing is inconsistent, though. This Gandalf The Grey has realistically rosy cheeks and his hair is finely detailed with grays and browns that looks incredibly accurate. However, the sword is monotonal – it looks like a cartoon in a real person’s hand! – and the cloak is entirely too clean to be at all believable. The inconsistency robs this ornament of anything approaching perfection.

Features

As a Hallmark Keepsake ornament, "Gandalf The Grey" could have a sound effect, but it does not. Instead, this is a less-expensive option that is just the character.

Balance

As with all ornaments, the intent of the Hallmark Keepsake "Gandalf The Grey" ornament is to be hung on a Christmas Tree. And for those creating the ultimate movie nostalgia Christmas Tree, the "Gandalf The Grey" ornament is a great option that can only enhance the tree of those who love fantasy characters. The ornament has the standard brass hook loop embedded into the top center of Gandalf The Grey's head. This is fairly obvious and necessary for the ornament. Hanging there, the ornament is absolutely perfectly balanced. The cool scabbard he has hanging from his belt helps keep the ornament in right balance and Gandalf The Grey is well-engineered in that regard.

Collectibility

Hallmark Keepsake began delving into the collectibles market in 1991 with Star Trek when it introduced the exceptionally limited edition original U.S.S. Enterprise ornament (click here for that review!). Within a few years, every major franchise from Star Wars to A Nightmare Before Christmas to Indiana Jones started making Hallmark ornaments. "Gandalf The Grey" is one of only a few Middle Earth ornaments on the market and at least the second of Gandalf The Grey. Sir Ian McKellen fans and fans of The Hobbit movies are very happy about the "Gandalf The Grey" ornament. They have a lot to be happy with in regards to this one. However, the track record for Middle Earth-related merchandise has been poor; investors might want to wait until this is half price before stocking up!

Overview

Fans of the Middle Earth franchise, Sir Ian McKellen, and Hallmark ornaments are likely to be excited by this ornament, and the promise of more to come. Gandalf The Grey might score, objectively, as a little more average than great, but it is still better than many of the ornaments on the market this year!

For other Hallmark genre ornaments released in 2012, please check out my reviews of:
The Final Battle Harry Potter ornament
On Stranger Tides Pirates Of The Caribbean ornament
Edward And Bella’s Wedding Twilight ornament

7/10

For other ornament reviews, please visit my Ornament Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Returns Fans To Middle Earth, But Asks More Of The Audience.

The Good: Effects, Performances
The Bad: Pacing, Light on character development
The Basics: An adequate prequel, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey sufficiently starts the set-up for The Lord Of The Rings!


Prequels are a tough sell for me. In going back to make the prequel to The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (reviewed here!), objectively it is a tougher sell than some might expect. After all, the prequel films, which now begin with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey feature few real surprises. After all, the novel has been around for decades and, more importantly, it is instantly established that the protagonist cannot possibly die. This, usually, diminishes some of the enthusiasm for investing in a prequel. And, while it is hard for fans of Peter Jackson’s cinematic interpretation of The Lord Of The Rings not to let their heart skip a beat the moment the first words in the familiar typeface Jackson uses appear on the screen.

But the longer The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey continues, the harder it is to maintain that enthusiasm. While there is an immediate surge of joy to return to the familiar and magical setting of Middle Earth – though with the time spent now in Hobbiton, one wonders how the lesson on Hobbits in the extended edition of Fellowship Of The Ring will hold up when one sits down to watch all six films back to back – the pacing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is not as well-executed as in The Lord Of The Rings. Moreover, the stakes are no longer the world, so there is no sense of urgency to the mission the protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, finds himself on.

Bilbo Baggins is a Hobbit, living in Hobbiton, generally happy with his existence. But then, his home is overrun by dwarves and the wizard Gandalf the Grey. After being frustrated by the slovenly nature of the Dwarves and the indifference of their leader, Thorin Oakenshield, Bilbo rejects the entreaties of Gandalf to join their quest. Uninterested in helping the Dwarves invade Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, to retake it from the dark forces that have conquered it, Bilbo has a change of heart once his annoying guests depart.

Catching up with the Dwarves, Bilbo comes to appreciate more what their fight is for as he comes to understand the importance of his own home. And through a series of conflicts with Trolls, Goblins and other monsters that inhabit the land outside Hobbiton, Bilbo grows closer to the Dwarves. After helping thwart a trio of Trolls, side trip to Rivendell and falling into a goblin trap, Bilbo feels he is truly a member of the company. His bond with the Dwarves is shaken when Bilbo ends up frightened and alone when he is lost in caverns, which puts him into peril he cannot even understand at the time and leads to a conflict with Thorin's oldest enemy.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is good, but for those looking for more than to be dazzled by the visual effects, it takes a lot of faith and the trust that this is an essential step in the character development of Bilbo Baggins. The visual majesty of Peter Jackson’s Middle Earth – which still, is vastly better than what Guillermo Del Toro might have done given his creative repetition in his works – is tempered by a pace that is, at times, agonizingly slow. Say what you will about the multiple endings to Return Of The King, but they do something to resolve the massive scale of the films and make it more intimate. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey aches to build the world of Middle Earth and it does so without the sense of incredible importance that The Lord Of The Rings possessed.

That said, for a film that builds to the prequel moments of The Lord Of The Rings, with Bilbo encountering Gollum and discovering the One Ring, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey does what it can as well it can. The discovery of the One Ring is an incidental thing and, as annoying as that might seem, it makes it entirely plausible that a character as smart as Gandalf – as portrayed in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - would remain ignorant of it as long as he did. On its own, away from knowing where the Saga is going, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is just a slow build-up, a quest based on nationalism for a nation viewers are unlikely to feel compelling empathy for that abruptly ends well before it actually reaches its conclusion.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is somewhat low on character development; this is a film more concerned with establishing Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf The Grey, and Thorin Oakenshield, than it is with changing them. The film begins to challenge them, especially Bilbo, whose sensibilities about home and its relationship to the larger world slowly change.

On the acting front, Sir Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchette, and Christopher Lee, all flawlessly retake the roles they had in The Lord Of The Rings. Richard Armitage explodes into the franchise as Thorin Oakenshield and he is magnetic, albeit with almost the same level of screen gravitas as Viggo Mortensen had as Aragorn in The Lord Of The Rings. The real acting triumph for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey comes from Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Freeman had a role he had to both mimic and make his own, taking over for Sir Ian Holm’s Bilbo (a task made more potentially difficult by the aged Bilbo, performed by Holm, appearing in the film!). Freeman takes the challenge, managing to deepen the goofy aspects Ian Holm’s Bilbo and also bringing out the more serious side of the character. Bilbo is essentially a bit character in The Lord Of The Rings, so Freeman has to flesh out the character while still making it seem like he would reasonably evolve into the aged Bilbo. He nails it. Freeman has an amazingly expressive body language that makes him viable as a reluctant quest participant and he plays Bilbo as the common man, as opposed to even attempting to bring heroic stature to the character.

For those who can stomach the slower nature of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the way it takes its time to truly establish Middle Earth – showing instead of relying excessively on voiceover exposition this time – will find themselves eager for the next chapter. For those who are not as into fantasy films, it is hard to see how this would be the one to sell them on the genre.

For other fantasy films, please check out my reviews of:
Beautiful Creatures
The Twilight Saga
Alice In Wonderland

7.5/10

For other film reviews, be sure to check out my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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The Lord Of The Rings Goes Out Perfectly With "Age's End!"

The Good: Interesting concept, Powerful cards, Great images, All foils, Easy to collect, Limited!
The Bad: None!
The Basics: The perfect set to cap off The Lord Of The Rings Trading Card Game, "Age's End" has some beautiful foil cards for collectors!


From the perspective of any number of players and collectors, the downturn of Decipher, Inc., the gaming card company was rather abrupt. Sure, there had been rumors of the company floundering and late-to-market releases of easy sets the company was producing like "The Wraith Collection" (reviewed here!) but most of us had no idea how beleaguered the company actually was until it lost The Lord Of The Rings and Star Trek licenses in rapid succession. Indeed, it was rather suddenly that fans found out about the existence of "Age's End," the final The Lord Of The Rings gaming card set. At least, the company went out with a bang with this set, producing arguably the most simple and best limited edition set the company ever created.

With "Age's End," Decipher got quite creative. The limited edition set might only had forty cards, but they are all foil cards and the images are great, there is every major hero from the cinematic trilogy, as well as most of the major villains. In fact, there are two original Minion cards - two different Trolls designed by WETA! After looking through the set again, the only real omissions are all minor, though it would have been nice to have a final Sauron card! Sure, we can live without one, just like we can live without another Faramir, Saruman, or Elrond, but they sure would have been nice! This is, arguably, just nit-picking because I think this is a perfect set, even though there was no way to play the game with just this forty-card deck.

Basics/Set Composition

"Age's End" was the eighteenth and final set of The Lord Of The Rings Trading Card Game cards created by Decipher. Envisioned as a game played by two to four people, players created decks of cards utilizing their own version of the Fellowship and prepared to seed the adventure path with obstacles to thwart other players' Fellowship. For those unfamiliar with the concept, CCGs (or TCGs) are basically a late-teen oriented product designed to capitalize on the youthful desire to play with the acknowledged maturity of the target audience. The result is something that is a midpoint between the freedom and creativity of action-figure free play and the structured rules and rigidity of a board game.

"Age's End" is a forty card set focusing on characters, location, artifacts, villains and scenarios presented in the The Lord Of The Rings films. Released as the final set in a limited edition deck, this card set utilizes material from all three films as well as two cards created especially for this set. This presents a well-rounded playing environment from Middle Earth. The set consists of 40 premium rare foil cards, with the most popular characters being presented.

The 40 card foil set features 1 One Ring, 3 Dwarven, 3 Elven, 2 Gandalf, 2 Gollum, 4 Gondor, 2 Isengard, 6 Orc, 3 Rohan, 1 Sauron, 5 Shire, 1 Uruk-Hai, and 7 Wraith Affiliation cards. These are generally broken down evenly between Fellowship (your cards you play with) and Minion (cards you set upon your opponent) cards. Within the various affiliations, there are: 1 One Ring (a unique card with properties governed by the text on the card), 13 Companion (cards depicting primary characters and those who may join your customized Fellowship, like Legolas or Aragorn or Eowyn), 9 Condition (cards illustrating long-term changes to Middle Earth that remain in play more than one turn, like Frodo seeing Wraiths In Twilight or the men of the Fellowship finding themselves Not Bound To His Fate), 2 Event (cards depicting temporary effects on players, like Sauron's Might or Gimli's body count revealed as "That's Two!"), and 15 Minion (cards depicting villains used to obstruct your opponent, like a Grima or the Balrog).

This set continues the game with a very broad sense of the Middle Earth universe as characterized by The Lord Of The Rings films. The boxes are comprised of six forty-card decks. Each deck has all of the same forty foil cards.

Playability

At its most basic level, this is a board game where one constructs the board and pieces out of a selection of cards. The purpose of the game is to survive to the end of the ninth site in the Adventure Path, which (theoretically) indicates the end of the Ring Bearer's quest. The basic idea is to assemble a sixty card deck, lay out the board (Adventure Path) and play against an opponent. The deck is evenly split between Fellowship and Shadow cards, so players ought to have a hand that allows them to play and attempt to thwart their opponent at any given time.

This game uses a "payment" system where cards have a cost. The rulebook recommends something like poker chips or glass beads to establish the twilight pool and wound indicators and I've found small poker chips (not included) work very well for this.

Sites form the board for the game, known as the Adventure Path. Sites are seeded in accordance to the rules of bidding (all of this is clearly established in the rulebook, which is available in the starter decks). The rulebook clearly defines what each deck must possess in terms of numbers of the card types. But basically, one starts by laying out a board, determining which player goes first, then setting them off through a Fellowship Phase (wherein the current player adds any characters they can and moves to the next site), Shadow Phase (Shadow players seed Minions to set against the current player's Fellowship), Maneuver Phase, Archery Phase (archers fire and it becomes the first chance to try to take out enemies), Assignment Phase (villains target Fellowship Companions), Skirmish (they actually battle) and then Regroup.

This is a fairly complex trading card game, but it represents a level of gaming sophistication designed to appeal to younger adults and actually challenge them, which is a decent idea given the complexity of Middle Earth. The problem, of course, is that most people who would be most stimulated by this game do not have the time or effort/interest to learn to play it. As a result, the mid-teens that basically run the CCG players world seem to have had mixed impressions about this game. Many players seem to enjoy that cards have a "cost" to them, adding a sense of risk to playing many of the better cards.

It takes a great deal of time and energy to learn the game, but once one has played a few hands of it, it is a pretty easy concept for an adult to master and the challenge becomes assembling a strong fellowship and accompanying minion deck and being creative (and lucky) about how the cards from one's hand are used.

Rules/Rule Changes

There is no rulebook for this set. There were no rule changes and this set simply follows the rules as revised back in "The Hunters" (reviewed here!). There were no new game mechanics or rule changes in this set; there are not even any new card types! This is just a pure expansion which continues the game, not alters it, making it great for players.

Highlights

Players, collectors and fans of The Lord Of The Rings franchise will appreciate the image quality of the characters and scenarios from the films. The "Age's End" set features new adversaries, like trolls and tentacles to set upon one's opponent!

Easily the best of this set is 18P21 Watcher In The Water, Many-tentacled Creature. This minion card costs only four tokens to play and looks completely badass! With eleven points of strength is can pretty much eliminate any member of the Fellowship, including a mithril coat-wearing Frodo! As well, if played with the two accompanying Tentacles (Reaching and Strong) this can pretty easily decimate a Fellowship and leave your opponent in a very precarious position!

The WETA-designed troll cards are interesting and they are fun, but they are also more costly to play. They were a good idea and one that is well-executed for this set, but the Watcher is just that much better!

Collectibility

This set is limited to the exclusive packs of forty cards and was only originally available for a short time before Decipher lost the license. Prices have come down now on the secondary market, but they still command a decent price (about $50 for the foil set of forty cards) and the boxes of decks are getting harder to find. At least it is easy to collect. As the final set, this will always have some inherent value.

Overview

"Age's End" is decent, limited set for players. As well, collectors and investors will enjoy that this is the final hurrah for a pretty excellent gaming card line.

This set culls material from the The Lord Of The Rings Extended Edition Trilogy, reviewed here!

This is a set of gaming cards I proudly sell in my online store! For my current inventory of them, please click here!

This set was preceded by "Treachery & Deceit" (reviewed here!) and was not followed by anything!.

10/10

For other card reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!

© 2011, 2008 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.

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