It's 2013 and I've let the blog slide for too long, it's time to get reviewing again. 2012 was in many film goers eyes a year of expectancy, with one film after another coming from Directors who have immense cinematic clout. However given the anticipation greeted by many films last year non come close to the expectancy laid on The Hobbit. The Lord Of The Rings is cinemas greatest success story, a trilogy that is lauded as the finest ever created. 11 years since the release of The Fellowship Of The Ring and we're returning to Middle Earth in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
In a hole under the ground there lived a Hobbit. Bilbo Baggins is his name and we all know him as a rather wrinkled Ian Holm in Lord Of The Rings, who makes an appearance here. But this story concerns a much younger Bilbo played by Martin Freeman, who, along with Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and 13 dwarves, begins an adventure to help the dwarves reclaim their former homeland from the terrible dragon known as Smaug.
An Unexpected Journey plants you firmly back in to Middle Earth and into Jackson's method of story telling. It's like sitting in your favourite chair and enjoying a tipple of your favourite drink, only the label has changed and the flavour has a crisp newness about it. The characters, setting and motifs all ring with familiar tones that instantly has you by the eyes and ears. The story is laid out before us with a fantastic prologue that echoes the style of the former films. Hobbiton looks as good, in fact better than it did oh so many years ago and the crystal quality of the new RED cameras picks out the finest detail in the landscape and faces of our characters. However this viewer prefers not to have to wear such cumbersome glasses to enjoy the experience, more on that later.
Jackson has made the obvious and generous choice to reintroduce Middle Earth and the story of The Hobbit through our original Bilbo; Ian Holm. The first act plays out in what, to most, seems to be a rather slow affair. However having just read the book before viewing, I found that Jackson and Walsh have done their best to expand on a part of the story that focuses solely on Bilbo. With cinema, solid character building is key, and to spend a bit of time working out how Balin and Thorin have come to this juncture gives the story a better grounding. I felt the whole affair flit by, if anything I wanted to spend more time in Hobbiton. The film thunders on in any case.
Leaving Hobbiton gives The Hobbit it's true selling point, not only its glorious landscape, through which this band of 14 trek to the Lonely Mountain, but its central protagonist, Martin Freeman, who plays a much worried and flustered Bilbo. In LOTR it's easy to send Frodo on his adventure, he has no choice but to leave with the help of Gandalf. Here Bilbo is having to be coerced out the door as the outcome of this quest has little consequence to his lovely life in the Shire. The way this is handled is the genius of the film and the way in which it concludes gives a definite beginning and end to this first of three films. Much like Fellowship you feel a sense of connection to how hard this quest must be on a little halfling from Hobbiton.
The Hobbit deals with a much more playful and what seems a more trivial subject matter. The very idea of the plot sounds all together more fairy tale like than Lord of the Rings, so it comes loaded with a much more whimsical approach to the quest. LOTRs first chapter was a particular dark and brooding affair with a real sense of the unknown. So it's no wonder that some viewers have felt disconnected from this first installment. With room to expand and play with the story rather than squeeze a massive book into a 3 hour plot, Jackson and Co. give a grander sense of scale and seriousness to this quest. The prologue, the battle at the gates of Moria and the inclusion of Azog the Pale Orc give the plot a much greater sense of urgency and scope.
The inclusion of Radagast and the story surrounding the Necromancer has not yet inflicted on the quest, and with it not being part of The Hobbit novel, many have sneered at it's inclusion, however with two films still to go, these threads may still have an impact on the trilogy as a whole. However in dealing with the scenes that were in the book, one character nearly makes off with the whole show, as Bilbo meeting Gollum is possibly the greatest interaction with a cgi animated character in the history of cinema. Other expectant scenes such as the stone giants, the encounter with the 'three monstrous trolls' and goblin town, are handled as you would expect and add to that epic and magical quality synonymous with Jackson's Middle Earth.
Overall it's a superb adventure story in it's own right, with outstanding production techniques and effects backed by the strength of returning cast members, talented new ones and a soundtrack that further embellishes and builds on the previous score. However with Jackson attempting to give the film firm strings that lead to LOTR, that never appeared in the book, you can't help but feel that some scenes impeach on the main plot line. With a lot more still to come I for one feel that The Hobbit Trilogy has more up it's sleeve that could see the second chapter give relevance to moments in An Unexpected Journey.
The decision to shoot The Hobbit in 3D has caused this viewer one huge headache (quite literally). I've never been fond of 3D, especially its use in films that seemingly don't need it. With The Hobbit I was constantly pulled out of the experience because of a pair of glasses acting like a shitty filter over my eyes. I've watched 3D films and not noticed this as much but for some reason The Hobbit had me, on both sittings, getting frustrated with the 3D experience. LOTR was incredible without it, why bother? As for HFR I'll have to wait for the next one to bother with that. I fully intend on seeing this one more time in 2D just so I can sit through it without my eyes straining.
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
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