When I was very young, I watched the animated 1977 version of The Hobbit, and at the time I thought it was really bad. I remember it being very long and slow, and pretty dark for a cartoon at the time. Yeah, I was not a fan of that film as a child. Back then, I was not a great film critic, so my opinion is probably wrong as I have not seen that film since. The old Hobbit was my first glimpse into the fantasy genre, and even though I thought the film was pretty bad, I still liked aspects of it. I enjoyed the lore, new worlds to explore, and adventures in these new worlds. I loved the ideas of dwarves, elves, magic, and evil creatures that heroic adventurers have to do battle with. This love of fantasy, I am sure, had its beginnings with The Hobbit film.
Now
an adult, I was very excited to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Like most of you, I loved the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Peter Jackson
is back - and he’s making more Tolkien movies? Count me in. I have heard
many people have some worries going into the theater: The Hobbit is
only 276 pages turned into three long movies, or Peter Jackson filming
the movie in 48 fps and suddenly everyone being really worried about how
it will look. If no one had not told you that, would you have even
noticed?
I
might as well start by addressing some of these concerns. I do feel
like the rest of you, this seems like a small book for three movies.
But, I think the first installment had plenty of story, and the “filler”
scenes that never happened in the book (but which are largely from
other LOTR canon sources) are just extra backstory and more action. I am
ok with that. I have heard peoples’ gripes with the film is that there
isn’t much plot; I think these people are wrong. I think it has plenty
of good development and backstory that this fantasy nut loves.
Now
to address the 48 frames per second thing. I can go into a bunch of
explanation into what this means, but if you want to know more you
should look it up yourself, because honestly, it doesn’t matter at all.
It does make for some “shaky-camera stuff” throughout the film. Also,
sometimes the things look kind of weird. Its hard to describe, but just a
little different than most films we see. In my opinion, the film looks
amazing, sharp and clear. The crisp colors and amazing beauty that is
captured is in part due to this higher frame rate.
There
are a few gripes I had here and there. The film score, by Howard Shore,
does have a very good theme, but there is a bunch of recycling
happening here from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Many of the same
music and themes are heard, and that bugs me. New trilogy, new themes,
please at least change them up a bit. This movie is very action packed,
and in some ways that can help and hurt the film. It’s very fun to
watch, but then there is some lack of plot development (this is to be
expected in the first of three parts). There is great character
development with Bilbo making tough choices, however.
All
in all, I thought this movie was fantastic, and I am looking forward to
seeing the next two films. Even if they might be a little long, if you
like the fantasy of the Lord of the Rings universe, then it just adds to
the history of the world and makes it even more complex. I will say
this: compared to the Lord of the Rings, it does have more of a
light-hearted spin. Some of the Lord of the Rings can feel a little
heavy, with all the doom and gloom. LOTR puts forth a lot of
“end-of-good-in-the-world” stuff, and it can get a little trying. This
movie is just about a group of adventurers going on a quest for gold.
There is more to it than that, but it’s just makes you want to pump your
fist in the air, and enjoy the ride.
The Rating System
Production (Directing, Editing, Music) 4-5
Story (Plot) 4-5
Characters (Likability, Acting) 5-5
Writing (Dialogue, Cleverness) 4-5
Emotions (Was it; Fun, Scary, Sad, Do I care) 5-5
Overall Score 22-25
