Film Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Directed by: Peter Jackson. Stars: Sir Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis. Screenplay By: Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, Fran Walsh, Guillermo del Toro. Adapted by J.R.R Tolkien’s The Hobbit.  Released: December 2012

It has been almost 10 years since the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and throughout the decade mummers of an adaptation of Tolkien’s The Hobbit have come and gone.  After a rough start getting production going, including Guillermo del Toro dropping out of directing, Peter Jackson (rightfully so) decided to lead and bring audiences back to Middle Earth.

I also want to mention I watched the film in regular 2D. Not 3D, HFR 3D (faster film rate) or Imax. 

It was nice to go back and the look, tones, textures, special effects and sounds are all there. I’m fairly certain they filmed in some of the same locations around New Zealand as well.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey takes place sixty years before The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.  This time a younger Bilbo Baggins leads us on our journey.  His so-called burglar skills are called upon by Gandalf the Grey (Sir Ian McKellen) to help Thorin Okenshield (Richard Armitage,) the rightful king of the Dwarves gain their land/mountain back after the powerful dragon Smaug took it from them years before for all the Dwarves gold.

As mentioned it was lovely to go back, the air of familiarity was there. The Hobbit also blends and references The Fellowship of the Ring very well.  The soundtrack, costumes, cinematography and humour from the previous trilogy is all there. One prime example (without giving too much away) is a scene between Gandalf, Galadriel, Saruman the White (Christopher Lee) and Lord Elrond. I couldn't help but have a smile on my face during that scene, and it wasn't even a funny scene.  There were other moments like that as well.

But not all is well in the Shire.

I may have been one of the few that weren't jumping up and down when it was announced that the original two films planned have been stretched to three films.  First off, The Hobbit is one book and two scripts were penned and essentially filmed. Peter Jackson has also admitted (beyond the normal changes that come with a film adaptation) that they were expanding and adding scenes that were mentioned in the appendixes of the book.  Yes, this may not be a bad thing overall, but adding a fluffing a story and stretching it out unnecessarily is a bad thing.  I felt that this was my main issue. The Hobbit on its own isn’t as complicated a story as The Lord of Rings trilogy, and I feel as least with An Unexpected Journey that despite stretching and fluffing, I still can’t name all the thirteen dwarves. That beyond eating, singing, being gross and messy, and joking around there was no character development there.  I feel that the adding and fluffing takes away from the story rather than strengthen it. It makes for a weaker film overall. That to me is the difference from the previous trilogy.  It will be interesting to see how the next two films deal with this.

There were also one too many last minute saves for my liking. Even for a fantasy genre. 

The performances are lovely and help carry the film as well. Martin Freeman as Bilbo has the large task of leading and carrying the film. He gets Bilbo’s personality. Starting out as a home body to reluctant hero and all the emotions and nuances that come along with it is shown with ease by Martin. His resemblance to Ian Holm, who plays the older Bilbo, is uncanny. It is understandable why production waited for Martin Freeman to be free from his Sherlock Holmes schedule.

Sir Ian McKellen is Gandalf, he was born to play the part and that is pretty much that.  

Richard Armitage as Thorin balances Bilbo’s and plays against him well. On top of background it offers a heart and depth to the story. It can be considered that the friendship between Thorin and Bilbo can be a parallel to Frodo and Aragorn’s, although not as heart warming. You can see through Armitage’ performance that yes, Thorin is a leader.

The stand out performance and  my favourite moment of the film is Andy Serkis as Gollum. It is a motion capture performance during a pivotal scene of the discovery of the ring by Bilbo, (the exception to the stretching and fluffing) that stays with you. The character is essentially two, both Gollum and Smeagol. Serkis goes between the two with such ease that many actors can only dream of. The body posture, voice, eye movements, etc all change back and forth during a game of riddles. If Andy Serkis wasn’t tired after filming his scene(s), I was just by watching him.

Despite a weaker plot and characterization, the film is enjoyable and satisfies Lord of the Rings fans and worth seeing it on a large screen, no matter what version you see it in.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: There and Back Again will be released late 2014 and 2015 respectively.