‘The Hobbit’ is a cinematic pleasure

I thoroughly enjoyed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Like many people, Peter Jackson’s trilogy of Lord of the Rings movies was a cultural milestone for me. Anticipating and watching those great, big, beautiful movies was one of the joys of my teenaged years, and I like to say looking forward to each new installment helped me get through President Bush’s first term in office.

The Lord of the Rings movies also had a huge impact on film and pop culture as a whole. By proving that a well-made fantasy film could have a large audience, and make loads of money, they helped make the genre respectable, paving the way for projects such as the Game of Thrones TV series, which would have probably never seen the light of day without the Jackson movies’ example. Indeed, it is my view the Lord of the Rings movies were a significant force behind the transformation of American nerd culture from a fringe taste to a national (and international) trendsetter.

Now, nine years after the conclusion of his historic trilogy, Peter Jackson has returned to Middle Earth with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the book the author wrote before the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which sets the stage for those subsequent books, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first of a three-film adaptation of the story.

Its focus is Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), a hobbit living in the bucolic and pastoral land of The Shire.

Bilbo is content living in his comfortable home, but the mysterious and powerful wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan) has other plans for him. Gandalf brings Dwarf Prince Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) and his 12 companions to Bilbo’s house. Thorin and the dwarves want to reclaim their home of Erebor, the kingdom under The Mountain, which was stolen from them decades before by the Dragon Smaug. Gandalf enlists the reluctant Bilbo to join him and the dwarves on their quest to liberate Erebor, beginning an adventure that will change Bilbo forever and alter the landscape of the world.

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: The Hobbit is well worth your time and your money.

Jackson has lost none of his talent for epic, sweeping storytelling, and all the elements that made The Lord of The Rings movies so great and iconic are here as well. Grand cinematography, sweeping music, poignant character moments and exciting battle scenes are all present, and they are excellently done.

At the same time, The Hobbit also has its own distinct identity. Part of this has to do with the fact it is a far more straightforward and simpler story than The Lord of the Rings, but some credit should also go to the film’s co-writer, and one-time director, Guillermo Del Toro.

From the character designs to overall tone and pacing, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is definitely its own animal. Although it shares much with the Lord of the Rings movies, it is also forming its own identity, and I suspect this will become even more apparent in the subsequent films.

In the acting department, Freeman is great as Bilbo Baggins and the actors playing Thorin and the other dwarves make the characters both entertaining and distinctive. There are also a number of actors reprising their roles from The Lord of the Rings films, most notably McKellan as Gandalf and Andy Serkis as Gollum.

Serkis is once again pitch-perfect in his iconic role. McKellan is also a pleasure to watch, although it is clear age is beginning to catch up with him, and he looks tired in some parts. Still, he clearly puts his all into his performance, and there’s no one I’d rather see as Gandalf the Grey.

An interesting thing about The Hobbit is that, as an adaptation of one-third of a book that could have fit into a single movie, there’s a lot of detail from the source material that would have normally ended up on the cutting room floor. Indeed, while there are certainly a number of changes made to make the story more cinematic, this level of detail is still quite impressive.

All problems I have with The Hobbit are little things.

Although the movie is exciting and engaging throughout, there isn’t a single wow moment, like the Balrog fight in The Fellowship of the Ring or the battle of Helm’s Deep in The Two Towers. There’s also the nitpick that there isn’t enough differentiation yet between the feel of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, although I suspect this will solve itself over the next two movies.

Still, when all is said and done, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a fine movie and a pleasure to watch. After nine years, it’s great to be back in Middle Earth, and I can’t wait to see the next installment.

Posted by Bera B. Dunau on December 20, 2012. Filed under Arts and Entertainment,Columns,Movie Reviews,Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry