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nTitle: The Hobbit (2012)
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nDirector: Peter Jackson
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nCast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, IannHolm, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis
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nReview:
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nIt’s been almost a decade since I last visited J.R.R.nTolkien’s Middle Earth with The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003),nbut boy, going back to Middle Earth with The Hobbitt: An Unexpected Journey, feltnlike I’d never left. That familiar feeling you’ll get when you watch ThenHobbitt: An Unexpected Journey comes as a direct result of having the same filmmakingnteam behind the cameras. Same producers, same writers and yes, same director;nPeter Jackson returns to Middle Earth after having directed the first Lord ofnthe Rings trilogy, the trilogy of films that won him numerous Academy Awardsnand made him a house hold name. This film does have an added bonus to itnthough: Guillermo del Toro also helped write it and conceptualize it, so it’sngot a bit of another great fantasist in it. Unfortunately, del Toro had to bownout of directorial duties, sad in a way because I would have loved to see anLord of the Rings film directed by del Toro, but as fate would have it, Jacksonnretook the reins of the new trilogy, which is perfectly fine by me, the guynmade the previous three, he is the most qualified for the job. So did Jackson losenany steam? Or are his directorial abilities still in tip top shape?
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nThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a prequel to The Lordnof the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). It tells the story of anyounger Bilbo Baggins and his first encounter with “the one ring”. But it allnstarts rather small, with a visit from Gandalf the sorcerer who asks Bilbo tonjoin him on an adventure to find a gold treasure that’s hidden within the abandonednKingdom of Erebor. But this might prove to be harder than it sounds; thentreasure and the abandoned city are both zealously protected by a giant firenbreathing dragon named ‘Smaug’. If Bilbo accepts to join the adventure, he willnbe accompanied by 13 dwarfs and Gandalf himself. Will Bilbo accept to breaknwith his pleasurable, peaceful life in order to help the dwarves regain theirnlong lost kingdom and destroy the fire breathing dragon that took it from them?
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nI love what Jackson does with these movies, he bringsnTolkien’s worlds to life in a way that makes me want to live in them. Yes sir,nI wouldn’t mind living in ‘the Shire’ amongst happy Hobbits planning their nextnparty. I’d love to live in those little Hobbit cabins filled with “all thencomforts of home”. I mean, I love those warm looking little huts that thenHobbits live in. It seems like the Hobbits live extremely peaceful lives, jollynmost of the time, planning parties with friends, sharing warmth and good food. What’snnot to like about that life? Of course, The Shire might be a beautiful,npeaceful place to live in, but around it, evil lurks, searching to disrupt peacenand happiness. This is part of the theme of the film, how Bilbo has to breaknfrom his comfort zone and venture out into the world. He is an unlikely,nreluctant hero, but will he think of others? Will he learn empathy? It’s thenage old idea that when we break out of our comfort zone, that’s when thingsnstart happening, that’s when we start living our lives, that’s when the realnadventure begins.
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nWhat makes this unexpected journey so pleasurable to watch isnits characters and the world they inhabit. I loved the 13 dwarves and their humor andntheir appetite and their singing, these dwarves are a very entertaining bunchnof characters that bring the film to life. By the way this film reminded me anlot of Ron Howard’s Willow (1988) a film that borrowed heavily from Tolkien’snbooks; you know, the kind of film wherena bunch of characters are traveling down a strange and dangerous land, fillednwith unexpected perils, creatures and monsters galore. Orcs, giant rockncreatures, giant wolves and spiders, and monsters that defy definition awaitnBilbo and the dwarves as they travel through Middle Earth. This is one of thenthings that I always love about fantasy films, the creatures we meet on thenjourney across the strange land. In that sense, this film is not so differentnfrom Ridley Scott’s Legend (1985) either, or any other fantasy film for thatnmatter. This is a monster filled journey.
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nAs far as faithfulness to the book goes, I’d say that yeah,nit’s faithful to the source material, but the filmmakers also throw in a lot ofnthings that are not in the book because they want to tie in plot points fromnthe previous films and bring in new plot points that will appear in futurenfilms, by the way, don’t know if you guys know it but two more films havenalready been filmed The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smug which will be released summern2013 and The Hobbit: There and Back Again which will be released shortly thereafter.nSo this is the reason why on An Unexpected Journey, you will see characters talknabout future perils and dangers on the horizon, alluding to, yet not reallyntelling us what we can expect in future films. Some characters are introducednbriefly, obviously meant to have bigger roles in future films. I read The Hobbit and felt like they tooknsome moments, placed them in this film, switched them around and put them innthe second or third, it was quite obvious that this isn’t a chronologically accuratentranslation of the book. The filmmaker have switched events around to suitntheir storytelling, and added new characters so as to have a cohesiveness withnthe older films. But in the world of Hollywood, this shouldn’t surprise anyone.nVery rarely do filmmakers translate a book onto film word for word; poeticnlicense is common practice in film land. So if you’re expecting a word for wordnadaptation of the book, wake up from that dream. But fret not, the mostnimportant key moments are all there. You will see Bilbo solve riddles withnGollum, Bilbo getting the ring for the first time, the 13 dwarves arriving atnBilbo’s home and so forth…the key moments are there. If you ask me, you won’tnfeel disappointed if you’re a Lord of the Rings fan.
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nUltimately I enjoyed this film very much. It feels like itnbelongs right there with the previous films. It was realized in such a similarnfashion that you do feel like you’re visiting that same Middle Earth we visitednyears ago with the first three films and the film is entertaining because ofnits cast of lively characters. The visual effects are as perfect as they could be;nI am personally amazed at what these filmmakers can achieve with computerneffects, when done well. The expressions they can achieve on some of thesencharacters are astonishing; Gollum is a wonder of animation in my book, henseems so alive in the film, yet he only exists within the confines of ancomputer! I guess the only down side to the film is how long it is, you mightnfeel like they are padding things out, stretching that story so as to makenthree movies out of one book and make three times as much money, but then againnepic length is almost a pre-requisite with these Lord of the Rings films, it’s almostnbecome something we can expect from them. So, with very few bad things to saynabout it I say An Unexpected Journey was a satisfying and entertaining filmnwith visual effects and storytelling of the highest caliber, without a doubtnone of the best of 2012.
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nRating: 5 out of 5
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