So after many delays, franchise expansion controversies and creative changes, Peter Jackson returns to the Middle Earth universe to bring J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit to the big screen. But after the success of the Lord Of The Rings franchise, do advancements in film technology and new characters in a different storyline carry on the same spirit, and match up to such great standards? Of course they do!
Looking back on his life on the eve of his birthday, Bilbo Baggins starts to write a collection of his adventures about his younger self (Martin Freeman, Sherlock) for his nephew. Previously, Bilbo was a quiet hobbit in The Shire who kept himself to himself. However, one day an encounter with the wizard, Gandalf The Grey (Ian McKellen), ends up with Bilbo being hired as a burglar to help the dwarf King Thorin (Richard Armitage, Spooks) take back his kingdom from the dragon Smaug. The three are part of a company including 12 other dwarves on their way to the Lonely Mountain. However, all is not right on the way through Middle Earth with numerous run ins with trolls, orcs and beasts, a magical ring getting pinched and the rumours of a Necromancer wizard returning becoming more and more true…
Freeman has always been a likeable actor and he does not disappoint as the younger Bilbo; a history of playing slightly awkward characters fits in with the fish out of water hobbit trying to find himself and bond with these rough and tough dwarves. An Unexpected Journey at least has a complete story arc with this finishing off Bilbo getting onto the same level of Thorin and co. to develop courage and actually become useful in a fight, after starting out as the shy, almost ignorant, creature we have at the start of the film. It takes a top actor to convince an audience of the evolution of a character in a film’s runtime, but Freeman excels and then some – he was given a ball with so much pressure attached to it and he runs all across The Shire with it.
McKellen we’ve seen before as Gandalf and is like an old reliable. There’s not much new to add the character with the start of this new trilogy but we know what this wizard is all about; a clever, and near scheming, complex man who can be both cruel and kind, McKellen brings Gandalf to life again in a role fans will be happy to see prominently.
Armitage as Thorin is pretty good too; his charisma shines through every time the camera is on him, and you can feel the quiet hatred of the dwarf whose home, family and friends have been ripped apart by Smaug the dragon burning through the air and it gets under your skin. His pride of a royal dwarf heritage is shown by being more than a bit harsh to the naive Bilbo, but the warmth and growth of their relationship is a key element to the film’s creative success.
There’s also a lot of fun and joyous performances from the rest of the dwarves. TV acting stalwart James Nesbitt (Cold Feet) gets a shot on the big screen as one of the more prominent dwarves Bofur (despite a strange Asian ‘Fumanchu’ look around him), and he delivers with his usual strong mix of comedic and dramatic performance. It’s hard to keep up with the names flying around so you are relegated to picking up character traits like the one that eats the most, the old one etc. but with another two films to go, Jackson will have enough about him to work in moments for all the dwarves later on.
There’s a few cameos about; reprising their roles from the original trilogy are Elijah Wood and Ian Holm, as Frodo Baggins and the elder Bilbo, respectively at the start of the film, and there’s a nice bit of chemistry between the two – which sells you on their Uncle/Nephew relationship, even if you’ve never watched the former trilogy. Hugo Weaving is still perfect as Elrond and Andy Serkis is entertaining as ever as the mental and crooked creature Gollum. Other returns, including the aging Christopher Lee as Saruman The White and Cate Blanchett as the elven queen Galadriel, run the risk of turning The Hobbit into a ‘Best of’ The Lord Of The Rings but An Unexpected Journey gets away with it. Just.
A lot of talk (mainly negative) has been about the new upgrade to HFR 3D (High Frame Rate) technology, which is 48 Frames per second instead of the usual 24. Upon sitting down and watching it, I can’t help but marvel at the sheer quality of this new method; it was so clear, and there was such a high picture quality even in the shaky 3D format, that the expanded frame rate really shows the quality of the sets and costumes in Middle Earth with such clear vision; as more frames would expose any poor quality craftsmanship from the production crew. A bold move by Jackson but for the most part, his advocation of this new technology has paid off and cinemagoers will be rewarded with a visual feast.
However, some of the special effects and CGI are ropey and the 48 frames tech shows up the faults massively, leading to a mixed bag of class in this department. The earliest time you’ll notice this is the cleaning up scene at Bilbo’s house with plates flying around rooms; it just looks really fake, obvious, and unrealistic; it’s probably the least complex piece of imagery used by computers and it’s frustrating to look at something so poor. On balance, there is some terrific CG later on (especially in the stone mountain giants battle, which contains a surprisingly good blend of practical sets and effects), it’s just that the CGI with not as much effort gone into it drags everything else down.
Not to say that it’s a bad film to look at; as Jackson always gets it right with a perfect blend of correct shots, and time to let emotional meaning sink into the audience. New Zealand is a wonderful country to film in and it’s spirit and double take as the wild lands of Middle Earth is captured poetically. Some of the best moments and characters are no doubt helped by the involvement of visionary director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) in a producer role, as his artistic magic is obvious and helps Jackson’s style along making an already interesting world even more captivating.
To be fair, there’s a lot of fun to be had in this; compared to the doom and gloom, ‘stop the end of the world’ mood surrounding the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, the start to The Hobbit saga is a very nice throwback to the adventure genre; with many fantasy elements utilised to their best, for a energetic, bouncing-ball of congeniality. The idea to retain a lot of the humour akin to Gimli and Legolas’ banter was a good move with many comedic moments. The Stone troll cooking scene is a riot with some excellent voice work with the trolls bickering and their gross actions. There’s a few of Tolkein’s songs from the book too which is a nice addition and doesn’t seem too out of place. Not to say that it’s too much fun that actions don’t have consequences, but all effort have been made to make An Unexpected Journey a pleasurable near three hours for all.
There is a total overdose of action scenes with them coming thick and fast right at the end though. It doesn’t distract totally from the story but it seems rather random to lump about three different fights/chases together. It makes for a thrilling conclusion sure, but without a decent break in-between it runs the risk of burning out an audience. At least the action is great and spectacular, and helped by the accompaniment of the bombastic orchestral arrangement from Howard Shore and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
The film does have an annoying tendency to refer back to the Lord Of The Rings saga; the start of the movie is set during the day before Bilbo’s birthday from The Fellowship Of The Ring and I honestly can’t remember if characters like Saruman The White and Galadriel were in the original book. It does seem rather fan service-y and an attempt to link forward what’s already out with a couple of references to future big bad Sauron. Without looking, I’m pretty sure there wasn’t as many mentions in the original book. I’m more than happy to be told wrong and they’re all there but from what’s in this prequel, Jackson really is trying to crowbar everything here into Lord Of The Rings Zero.
The most notable critique which stood out like a sore thumb is that, despite being his story, Bilbo doesn’t really feel like he’s in this film that much. He’s always there in key moments, has some big moments and has a decent character arc but the real plot is about Thorin getting his kingdom back so really despite the antagonist, Bilbo is not even the main character. Yes, it is phase one of a three part adaptation of a book but on it’s own, considering the title of the film starts with ‘The Hobbit’, said Hobbit is not as prominent as first thought.
So is it a Lord Of The Rings beater? At a push, yes. We will be enjoying the start of another epic trilogy as it’s probably the last of a dying breed of adventure films but they’re going out with a bang; if the quality of An Unexpected Journey is anything to go by. The plot, cast and character additions don’t feel out of place due to the experienced direction of Peter Jackson and like the original trilogy, you can tell the love and hard work which has gone into making this a fantastic film. It’s not without painful distractions, but The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is top quality entertainment at the cinema over the festive season. A Must see.
Terry Lewis – @thatterrylewis.
