The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

When I was in Grade 4, my teacher read us “The Hobbit” and I enjoyed the experience. Then came "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy and once that was over, I figured that we had seen the last of Peter Jackson's perception of Middle-earth. When I first heard that "The Hobbit" was being adapted on film, I was intrigued but concerned because Peter Jackson was not going to be directing. The delays in production made me wonder if this film would ever get made. If it did, I was afraid it would be a failure due to these delays. When Jackson became the director, it made me very happy. I then started watching the video blogs online and that is when my fears were put to rest. Those videos had the same spirit of hard work and passion that the special features of "The Lord of the Rings" had. I had not seen a Peter Jackson-directed film in theaters since "King Kong" and I wanted my first viewing of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" to be special. I wanted to watch it in the format that Jackson intended. I had a "Lord of the Rings: Extended Version" marathon and then off I went to IMAX on opening day. "An Unexpected Journey" fits very well next to "The Lord of the Rings" movies. I loved the special effects, acting and other cinematic characters but I was grateful that the story came first. I went into this movie not expecting it to be better than "The Lord of the Rings" and therefore, I was not let down. The story of this new trilogy leads up to the other films in the same way that the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy leads up to that original trilogy. I say again: "The Hobbit" is not meant to outdo "The Lord of the Rings".

I did not expect the movie to open on Bilbo's 111th birthday. It was so pleasing to see Ian Holm and Elijah Wood once again on the big screen. The opening prologue concerning the kingdom of Thror seems to reveal why dwarfs have an aversion to elves but I don't think I really needed to know why. I enjoyed the feast that the dwarfs had in Bag-End because it was well adapted from the book in terms of mood. I could see from early on in the movie that Jackson was expanding the story. Azog and Radagast for example are not in the book but they are Tolkien characters. I am warming up to them. The stone giant fight was also not in the book but was pretty neat. I was happy to see Jackson connecting this trilogy with his earlier one such as when the trolls freeze into the positions we remember from "The Fellowship of the Ring". We also get to see Weathertop again and in the extended version, there is a conversation concerning the seven Dwarf rings. Speaking of that, the White Council in Rivendell has a purpose much like The Council of Elrond. There is exposition that will come to be important in the final two films. I love when we first see Saurman and we hear, in the musical score, his theme but it is played in a more somber tone than on "The Lord of the Rings". My favorite moment in this movie is when Gandalf explains to Galadriel why he chose a hobbit to join the dwarfs in their quest. The scene make me cry nearly every time thanks to Howard Shore's score and Ian McKellen's performance. Some departures from the book are well thought up such as in the Misty Mountains when Bilbo tries to leave. It added some drama to the story. One sequence that was perfectly adapted was the game of riddles. It was just as fun as reading it because of the acting. I like how Gollum realizes that the ring is what is in Bilbo's pocket. Jackson makes yet another connection with his earlier films when the ring falls onto Bilbo's finger. There is no spoiler that the ring is the One Ring and that is a nice choice considering that some people watching this movie have not seen "The Lord of the Rings". There are some musical cues that indicate the ring's importance but that is as far as Jackson dare go. The sadness on Gollum's face is such that I also would have spared Gollum just as Bilbo did. That is great acting from Andy Serkis. I was expecting in the last scene of the movie that Thorin would thank Bilbo for saving him but I did not expect the level of humility that was expressed. The writers and actor Richard Armitage deserve some credit here because this is a cliche ending scene when one character suddenly changes his prideful outlook. The way it is written is different than what one might expect with this kind of scene. Thorin's first line to Bilbo after standing up doesn't seem to lead up to any humble payoff. It sounds quite ungrateful. I was expecting that Thorin's acceptance of Bilbo would be reserved for the final film and so I was pleasantly surprised by Thorin's hug. Throughout the film, I very much enjoyed hearing such lines as "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit" and "Out of the frying pan and into the fire". I was hoping however that Gandalf would say to Bilbo "Your tale rings true" when Bilbo explains how he escaped the cave.

The cinematic elements supported the story and I was hoping for that the most. I did not want the film to be focused more on special effects for instance. I know that there are those that would disagree with me but I felt that "Avatar" and Guillermo Del Toro's "Pacific Rim" for example were too much focused on their CGI. "The Hobbit" had better balance. The acting and characters were very well done. I liked the work of all of the returning cast members but if it had to pick my favorite, I have no choice but Andy Serkis. He gave us the same character we know and love but it was still a fresh performance with surprises. The character of Gollum this time is completely motion capture unlike on "The Lord of the Rings" where Gollum's face was animated with reference to Serkis' performance. The new cast members fit well into Middle-earth. Every once in a while, Martin Freeman's acting resembled that of Ian Holm's and I loved that. Jackson even reworked the filming schedule because he wanted Freeman for the role of Bilbo. Richard Armitage and Ken Stott deserve to be mentioned. I heard that Brian Blessed was considered to play Thorin at some point and that would have been cool to see. Barry Humphries from "Finding Nemo" was the Great Goblin but I couldn't tell whether he was motion captured. I would think so and if that is the case, I am so amazed by how far this technology has come. During the end credits, it was so wonderful to see all the names of the familiar crew members. I was happy that Serkis became the second unit director. In order to add some differentiation, "An Unexpected Journey" was not edited by any of editors from "The Lord of Rings" so that is smart. Howard Shore's score is amazing as was to be expected, especially "Misty Mountains". That song gets stuck in your head so easily. I wish it had been nominated at the Oscars. The special effects were truly wonderful. Resizing the actors digitally is now completely invisible for me. Before I could more easily tell if an actor was blue screened in but this movie has done it seamlessly. Any CGI character was quite realistic thanks to motion capture and other advancements. The battle with the goblins in the Misty Mountains is also noteworthy. I shall now address something more important: the high frame rate. "The Hobbit" is the first set of major motion pictures to be filmed in 48 frames per second as opposed to the standard 24. Just as "The Phantom Menace" was criticized for Jar Jar Binks and for the large amount of special effects, HFR on "An Unexpected Journey" has received disapproval. Unfortunately, just like with the Star Wars prequels, much of the public seems to rely on other people to decide if they like HFR instead of deciding for themselves. My opinion is that HFR is a great new technology, just like 3D, if used right. Peter Jackson did a great job in using it although the technology wasn't perfect yet. Just because there are a few hiccups with something doesn't mean that it can't be fixed with time. That is what I said after seeing the movie for the first time and sure enough, HFR was better in "The Desolation of Smaug". I go to the movie theaters to enjoy an experience that I can't enjoy at home. I could buy a frame blending HDTV but I haven't the money yet to do so. Once I do, movie theaters will once again improve the experience so as to better compete. I also did not focus my attention on HFR 3D while watching "The Hobbit" but rather I wanted to see the world of Middle-earth again. I got what I wanted and the HFR 3D amplified my experience. One thing that HFR does well is to blend CGI and real life elements together on screen in such a way that you have trouble telling the two apart. There are a number of shots that still blo\w me away because of how beautiful they were in IMAX HFR 3D. One shot is when Biblo has joined the company and Gandalf, in voiceover, says "The world is ahead." Then, when the company was leaving Rivendell, the characters are the foreground with Rivendell in the far background and that shot was breathtaking. There are more example that impressed me but those two were the first I noticed. I enjoy studying the making of certain movies because that also entertains me. I am glad that Jackson and New Line patched things up during pre-production. Thanks to New Line's failure in making good movies post-"Lord of the Rings", they needed Jackson to head this prequel. At first, Jackson did not want to direct because he didn't want to compete with his earlier films and I respect that. Guillermo del Toro was hired to direct but he left because of the aforementioned delays. I do sense del Toro's contribution. They also considered getting David Yates from "Harry Potter" and that would have been neat. The writing process was taken quite seriously and I am thankful for that. The Hobbiton set near Matamata, New Zealand was permanently built for the trilogy as opposed to the temporary sets built for "The Lord of the Rings". This way, it could be a tourist attraction after filming.

With the high expectations that accompany this film, critics and the public will find anything moderately wrong with "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" and make it sound worse than it actually is. It is just like "Episode I" all over again. I loved seeing these characters & settings once again and this movie can stand along side "The Lord of the Rings". "The Hobbit" sets up the story for that trilogy instead of trying to outdo it. I wish it had recieved more Oscar nominations than it did. It was nominated for Makeup, Production Design & Visual Effects and I was hoping it would win the latter. The story came first and that made me happy. Other cinematic elements did their job. The film is among my top 20 favorite fantasy movies. Even though this prequel trilogy fell short of my expectations, at least the entire story ends on an Oscar winning high note.

4.5 Stars