A Return to Middle Earth with The Hobbit
The long awaited “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” debuted in theaters this week. I was able to catch it this weekend in 3D. It was excellent on its own but there is the issue of the inevitable comparisons to LOTR. By comparison The Hobbit is good but not great. It has a couple minor weaknesses but none that should stop everyone from seeing this movie – especially in 3D!
I haven’t read the book but have read LOTR. In what I know about Tolkien’s style and his ability to create epic quests, The Hobbit is a great representation of that genre. It is an adventure of a hobbit pulled into a large and dangerous world outside of the Shire. Martin Freeman is an excellent Bilbo Baggins and Ian McKellen returns as the legendary Gandalf. In this film, Gandalf is a little diminished in some respects similar to Fellowship of the Ring. Gandalf the Gray is a little less on his game than Gandalf the White. Either way, McKellen is brilliant.
The dwarfs are a great group and provide comic relief as well as heroism. Richard Armitage is good as the brave, strong, yet stubborn Thorin Oakenshield. He is the strong, silent type obsessed with reclaiming his birthright as king of Erebor. His company are those committed to reclaiming their homeland underneath the Lonely Mountain. They were evicted by the massive dragon Smaug who by all accounts is invincible.
A few omens give them signal that the time of their return is fast approaching, and so they begin their quest. Other dwarfs remain unconvinced, leaving most of the former inhabitants of the mountain on the sideline. I love this part because there is doubt in the prophecy. This is true of humans but Tolkien has also applied it to wizards, hobbits, and dwarfs. It is a play to faith in something that seems impossible, in this case taking back the Lonely Mountain from Smaug.
The timeless sin of greed is the cause of the dwarfs eviction. They mined too much gold, to the point of valuing it over all other things. As the saying goes “the love of money is the root of all evil.” In Tolkien’s Middle Earth, the accumulation of immense wealth in one place attracts dragons. In many myths, dragons are obsessed with treasure and guard it greedily.
Costumes, makeup, special effects, scenery, and all other measures of visual entertainment have to be put at a perfect 10 out of 10. Some have complained that certain action sequences are dizzying and overwhelm the senses to the point of looking away just to get bearings. This didn’t happen to me but I have to agree that a few scenes did push the limit.
There are orcs, wolves, trolls, dragons, and a ring wraith. Gollum of course plays his part. The excitement in the theater over the Gollum-Bilbo scene was palpable. The CGI creature is so life-like it is quickly forgotten that it is all green screen magic. The appearance of the one ring, the Witch King of Angmar, the pale orc, Saruman, Galadriel, Elrond, and a cameo by Frodo allow audiences to make the strong connection to the LOTR films.
On the negative side, the movie is a bit long. It is less than three hours but the barrage of action sequences wear you down a little faster than normal. For those with short attention spans, this is a problem. The fact that the book has been divided to two movies also bothers some people. That’s right, the movie ends at a middle point in the quest.
Since I haven’t read the book, I also had a problem with the first couple scenes. It is not very clear why Gandalf chose Bilbo or is so determined to have him join the quest. Its strange to see Gandalf angry at Bilbo for not leaving his comfortable life to join an extremely deadly, almost suicidal, quest for a cause he knows nothing about.
Perhaps in the book it is clear. Otherwise it seems Gandalf is just dropping in on some random hobbit, inviting his dwarf buddies over for a party, than dragging the poor bastard along, essentially accusing Bilbo of not having any balls. Bilbo has zero reason to go on this adventure, until there is a moment of realization very late in the movie. It’s backwards, he commits to the unexpected journey then finds a reason to do it after the fact.
This is a small criticism and for people who read the book it probably isn’t a concern. Overall the movie is great, especially in 3D!!! 5 out 5 stars.
Jacob
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