The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

As I left the Cinema my friend remarked on something that I hadn't considered previously. He pointed out that in The Fellowship of the Ring; when we see how Bilbo came to acquire the ring, the event that plays out

Thinking about it for a bit, I realized that this was completely accurate, of course they didn't intend to make prequels; LOTR was an unbelievably ambitious project that revealed the wider appeal for fantasy films, and were incredibly risky investments given that no one really knew how popular the films were likely to be.

On top of which, whilst none of the books were received badly to any great extent, the ones which were best known were the main trilogy, as opposed to Bilbo's story or the extended Lore.

So yes, to settle this debate once and for all, it is clear they never originally intended to make the prequels. But given how immensely well the films ended up doing (grossing $2,917,506,956 in box office revenue alone) it's unfair to chock this up as just another flogging of a long dead horse.

Another note that was really rubbing me up the wrong way was the implication that the film has no right being spread into 3 because the book of The Hobbit was shorter than any other in the LOTR trilogy itself. Again, on the surface this seems like a valid argument- except when you look at the extended books that Peter Jackson is purporting to be drawing from; particularly his collection of information about Middle Earth Unfinished Tales; it seems like there is more than enough material to be able to make some pretty solid movies from.

And before you even ask about it, I didn't actually see the film in 48fps (nowhere I could get to had the option) so I'm not even going to begin to touch on this final point of whether or not it was a good move or bad move, all I will say is that without exploring what CAN be done with new equipment and techniques, we can never get better at using them, so even if it was a difficult to watch mess because of the way it was shot at this point just imagine the potential in the future before you so desperately cling to what’s familiar.

Ridiculously long rant aside though, what did I actually think of the movie?
In case you hadn’t guessed I loved it, from the moment it started I was absorbed back into the world that had been so lovingly crafted in the past as I was reunited with characters that I had grown to love. The returning actors such as Ian Mckellen, Hugo Weaving and Christopher Lee all seem to fit back into their roles comfortably, interacting with one another in a manner that old friends would, lending to the feel of a “lived in” world. The returning actor that deserves special mention however is Andy Serkis, as the energy that he brings to the role of Gollum is nothing short of magic, with his “big scene” being (in my not so humble opinion) the highlight of the film.

The newest additions as actors are of course, Martin Freeman as the young Bilbo Baggins, a role that he takes to with much gusto, portraying the nervous and skittish nature as fantastically as he did in The Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.
The dwarves deserve special mention as well, as each actor feels unique, and whilst they occasionally come off a bit too “comedic” and whilst you may not leave knowing ALL of the dwarves names, it’s hard to not enjoy them when they’re on screen.

Lastly, Sylvester McCoy as Radagast the Brown is one of the more interesting characters in the film, largely because; second only to Gollum, he is the strangest character, buzzing with an eclectic energy that implies that he is a much more “hippy” character than Gandalf the Grey, but is no less powerful.

As for the set pieces in the film, they have retained much of the energy that the previous trilogy sported, with fantastically choreographed fight sequences and some genuinely tense moments. My only complaint is that the fights never felt particularly staggered out well, some sequences playing out mere moments after each other, which can affect the pacing in the wrong way, not allowing the impact of each sequence to be felt because of how quickly you’re required to gather you’re bearings. I know it may sound like a small complaint, but I never felt any sense of fatigue from the dwarves during their quest despite the incredibly exhausting sequence of fights and trekking.

This is however, nit-picking on an otherwise great film. If you haven’t seen it already (and really at this point if you haven’t I can only assume you never will) then I recommend making it your next film, you really won’t regret it.