The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit..." so begins J.R.R Tolkien's wonderful book, as well as Peter Jackson's glorious new movie. The film begins in the Shire, of course, around the same time as The Lord of the Rings, on the day of Bilbo Baggins' one hundred and eleventh birthday. From the opening moments, as a modified version of the familiar theme "Concerning Hobbits" began to play and the fantastic vistas of Peter Jackson's Bag End appeared on the screen,  I was absolutely absorbed. Within seconds, I was back in Middle Earth, the most amazing world ever put on film. I have heard that on 48fps (frames per second) the film looks eerily "realistic" as if the set was right in front of you, instead of the screen. However, I watched the film in 24fps, the industry standard, and in 2D. The film has a soft, almost dreamlike look. The hazy, orange, pink and blue sky took my breath away. I don’t know how exactly to describe it, but the way Middle Earth looks in this movie, the sky in particular, is mesmerizing. After The Fellowship of the Ring, this is the best looking Peter Jackson film, courtesy of cinematographer Andrew Lesnie.  My favorite shot of the film is close to the end. It comes when Bilbo, Gandalf, and the twelve dwarves look towards the Lonely Mountain as they prepare to face Smaug… But I'm getting ahead of myself. All of that will come in the second or third movie. 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is concerned with setting up all of the pieces for the films to come. We start when Bilbo Baggins is recruited by Gandalf the wizard and a horde of dwarves to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the evil dragon Smaug. The film continues as the group encounters trolls, elves, and finally, goblins. All of this gets them about halfway to the Lonely Mountain. The film also takes a detour to check in on a largely forgotten character from Tolkien’s mythology, Radagast the Brown. Radagast is portrayed as a laid back, groovy little wizard with pet birds and porcupines. Some might find him irritating; I found him endearing. Plot-wise, Radagast serves the function of warning Gandalf of the Necromancer, a wizard with the power to bring back the dead who will most likely be the villain in the upcoming films. Here, Jackson takes certain liberties with the novel thus darkening the tone to resemble that of The Lord of the Rings (both the film and book.)

I think Jackson made an absolutely brilliant choice in taking elements from the appendix of The Lord of the Rings, adding them to The Hobbit, and expanding what was originally going to be one film into three. Many people will cry, saying that The Fellowship of The Ring, which is twice the length of The Hobbit, got about the same running time as only the first film of the new series (3 hours). Peter Jackson took a different approach to both series. The Fellowship of the Ring, and its two sequels, were approximately three hours each, but Jackson felt he had to take away or condense a lot of material to make the films feasible, and it worked. Instead, with the shorter The Hobbit, he thought he could show everything, plus a little more, and still make three successful films. If the first movie is of any indication, then I am convinced that the next two will turn out magnificently as well. Peter Jackson gave me no reason to doubt him with The Lord of the Rings, and he has given me no reason to doubt him with The Hobbit. I was never  bored, but instead I was enamored of every detail Jackson chose to depict. The cleanup song of the dwarves is comedic gold and the extended "riddles in the dark" sequence is as fine as film can get. It is time for the Academy to recognize Andy Serkis as one of the best actors of his generation. If it will not create a special "collaborative performance" oscar or something along those lines, then it should at least give him an honorary statuette. 

Gollum has never been so frightening. Smeagol has never been so sad. Together, they have never been so funny. There is something about Smeagol’s big blue eyes that almost brought tears to mine. I knew all along that the creature I was watching was made entirely with computers, but still the human performer behind the computers stood out. There is a moment when an invisible Bilbo, with his ring on, has the perfect opportunity to kill poor innocent Smeagol. For a few moments, the camera lingers on Bilbo as he recalls the words of the wise Gandalf who said that true courage is not knowing when to take a life, but when to spare one. Had The Hobbit been just one film, I fear moments like this would have been cut or shortened. Such moments add depth to the characters, making the audience care more about the story. 

There is another, equally outstanding scene, when Gandalf reveals why he chose Bilbo, why he chose such a small and frightened creature for such an important mission. Ian McKellen delivers his lines quietly and powerfully. Overall, the acting is excellent. Casting Martin Freeman as Bilbo was one of the most inspired choices by Jackson.  Freeman expertly shows Bilbo's fear but also his bravery when thrust in unexpected circumstances. His performance will no doubt draw endless comparison to Elijah Wood's whiny and weak Frodo from The Lord of The Rings. I pity Elijah Wood. I think he did the best he could. What some audience members failed to understand is that it is in his characters nature to be weak so as to stand in contrast with Sam, the true hero of The Lord of the Rings. Anyway, I digress. Along with McKellen and Freeman is Richard Armitage who plays the great king of the dwarves, Thorin Oakenshield. He is ruthless, worn by constant battle and migration. Two of the strongest scenes of the film (and two of the key scenes for understanding the character) are the prologue, which shows how Thorin was driven out of his home by the dragon Smaug, and a flashback that shows how he became king of the dwarves during a war with the orcs. 

The battles in the film are breathtaking, as good as anything on The Lord of the Rings. Most impressive is the underground escape from the goblins. It felt like a lighthearted version of the escape from Moria. Instead of a menacing Balrog, the last thing Gandalf encounters before exiting the mountain is the goblin king, a fat and nasty creature who... cracks a joke before falling dead. As a whole, The Hobbit felt like a much livelier, warmer version of The Lord of the Rings. It is not as urgent, and It’s villains rarely feel as life-threatening. I mean this as a compliment. I love The Lord of the Rings; I think it is the finest film ever made. Still, there are times (although few and far between) when I think it is slightly too dark to watch. Instead, I feel that I could watch The Hobbit anytime, anywhere. This lighter tone makes the film abundantly enjoyable. Whether or not it will stand repeated viewings, however, is still to be decided. Now, I think I’ll go find out. 

Verdict- 4/4
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) PG-13 2h 49min. 
Random Thoughts
- all screenshots taken from http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/thehobbit/
- best quote of the film "If Baggins loses, we eats it whole." Gollum
- I will be looking forward to the extended edition. The film earns its 3 hour running time. I wouldn't mind 30 minutes more.
- Cate Blanchett returns as Galadriel, and is incredible as usual.
- Also returning are Hugo Weaving as Elrond, Ian Holm as an older Bilbo and, unfortunately, Elijah Wood as Frodo.
- Fili, Kili, Dwalin, Balin, Oin, Gloin, Dori, Nori, Ori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, and of course, Thorin Oakenshield. Yes, I know them by heart.
-Peter Jackson always has a cameo. He is supposedly in the first five minutes of the film, but I could not find him.