Review: “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”

I don’t have a lot of experience doing proper film reviews so bear with me on this one.  Also, it was written over several days so forgive me for any errors of omission.  I am assuming anyone seeing the movie would have already read the book so any real spoiler information is reserved to a section subtitled “What’s New”.  In every case, however, I try not to be too specific for those who may not have seen it yet so as not to take away any little surprises.

My initial reaction is that, as a Tolkien fan and someone very familiar with the book, it was awesome.  To the casual fan, there were many aspects of the film that probably went over their heads.  But that won’t take away from their enjoyment of it.

Peter Jackson clearly decided to stick to the spirit and letter of the book in almost every respect.  From my perspective, I think it worked well.  I had, in past posts, pointed out that some lighter – even silly – components of Tolkien’s original 1937 story would probably be best left out of these films to better connect them to the more serious LOTR trilogy.  However, once I let down my initial resistance I was able to appreciate how artful a job that Jackson and his crew have done.

I’m still a little reticent about some of the things we have yet to see in the coming installments but I have full faith and confidence in an operation made up of so many individuals who clearly have a passion for the material.

The Story

As expected, the film is presented within the frame of Bilbo’s “narrative” in the form of writing down the tale of his adventures in what will become known as the Red Book of Westmarch.  Though Bilbo is writing the story primarily for Frodo’s benefit, he doesn’t let him see it because it’s not ready.  Frodo asks,“Ready for what?”  “Ready to be read”, replies Uncle Bilbo.

We pretty much knew this would be the context from the trailers so it’s not really a surprise.  What I hadn’t expected, however, was that Bilbo and Frodo’s interaction is set on the exact day that we are first introduced to them in the first LOTR movie, “The Fellowship of the Ring”.  The “No Admittance Except on Party Business” sign is nailed to the door by Frodo himself at Bilbo’s behest.  And we see Bilbo seated at his desk in the exact way we saw him in Fellowship (particularly in the Extended Edition where he begins writing his account, starting with “Concerning Hobbits”).  I had previously expected that all this would be set at least a short time prior to the actual day of Bilbo’s 111^th birthday party.

The opening narration by Ian Holm leads to a “prologue” of sorts that recounts the founding of the town of Dale and the Kingdom of the Dwarves under Erebor. (More details in the “What’s New” section below).  The audience is then transported, through a seamless transition, to a younger Bilbo Baggins (brilliantly portrayed by Martin Freeman), sixty years prior.  From the initial meeting with Gandalf to the arrival of the Dwarves and the subsequent “unexpected party” everything is presented in great detail right from the original text.  The Dwarves are indeed unique though any audience member can be forgiven if he cannot identify and name every Dwarf by sight by the end of the film.  The ones that most stand out in my mind are Dwalin, Balin, Fili, Kili, Bofur, Dori, Gloin (bearing a remarkable resemblance to Gimli) and Bombur – the last being the largest of the thirteen.

Thorin Oakenshield arrives after dinner and the presence that Richard Armitage brings to the role is remarkable.  The only previous incarnation of Thorin that I’ve seen is the considerably older cartoon version from the 1977 television film.  Armitage’s Thorin is almost reminiscent of the character of Aragorn, though considerably more brooding and dour.  His aura, however, seems very formidable and heroic.  Thorin’s past exploits against the Orcs are fleshed out in a flashback as told by Balin once the party gets underway.

We get heaping helpings of the scenes we all love so much from the first six chapters – the encounter with the Trolls, the arrival at Rivendell, the capture of the company (sans Bilbo) by goblins in the Misty Mountains (which rivals the Fellowship’s escape from Moria in the LOTR), the Riddle Game and the fight between the Dwarves and the a band of Warg-riding Orcs, led by an Orc leader named Azog. 

This new character comes from Tolkien’s posthumously published “The Quest For Erebor” and his context is changed somewhat here.  However, I will discuss the role of Azog in the story in greater detail under a separate post.  This last action with the Orcs and Wargs forms the climax of the film, ending with the company’s rescue by the Great Eagles and their arrival at the Carrock with the Lonely Mountain looming in the distance.

All in, the film runs about two hours and forty-five minutes but because the story is laden with action sequences it goes by fairly quickly. 

What’s New? (Spoilers)

- Feel free to skip down to the next section if you don’t want to be spoiled. -

Nobody can complain that Jackson left anything out from the book.  In fact, the opposite is true in that he added so much to it that comes from other texts requiring some minor changes to the story overall.  The additional material that is presented helps broaden the narrative and most of these scenes only add to the enjoyment. 

In the prologue, we are shown the wonder of the Dwarf realm under the Lonely Mountain and the discovery of the Arkenstone, which Thror (Thorin’s grandfather) takes as his most treasured possession as King Under The Mountain.  We witness the arrival of the dragon Smaug (though we actually see very little of him) and the evacuation of Erebor by the Dwarves. 

There is a brief appearance of Thranduil, the King of the Elves of Mirkwood as the story points to the origin of the bitterness that Thorin and his people feel towards them.  On this latter point, it was probably necessary to establish this for the conflict that we expect to see in film two.  We saw some of this from Gimli early on in the LOTR (“never trust and Elf!”).  The more ancient cause of this enmity between the races dates back to the Second Age but one would have to revisit Tolkien’s “Silmarillion” for those details.

One notable change is the presence of Azog the Defiler as the primary villain.  We are led to believe (through Balin’s tale at the start of the journey) that Azog is dead by Thorin’s hand but in fact he has returned, literally with a vengeance.  When an Orc patrol discovers the party of Dwarves as it camps just prior to their Troll encounter, Azog is made aware of the presence of his old enemy and pursues him throughout the film.

There is also a meeting of the White Council (Galadriel and Saruman are present) in Rivendell which results in the Dwarves going on ahead without Gandalf to the Misty Mountains.  Prior to their capture, the Dwarves face peril from fighting Mountain Giants (that is, enormous Giants actually made out of rock) which were alluded to in Chapter Four of the book.  Gandalf, however, catches up with them in the nick of time to confront the Great Goblin and lead the escape.

The presentation of Gollum is nearly identical from his LOTR appearance with the creature flitting back on forth between the more malevolent Gollum personality and the meeker, more pitiable Smeagol persona (though this name is never used).  It is “Smeagol” who is enticed into playing the game (his excitement is almost endearing) much to the dissatisfaction of Gollum.   

Lastly, there is the introduction of the wizard Radagast the Brown and his home as Rhosgobel.  We even see a glimpse of the Mirkwood spiders.

Radagast’s role is primarily to share his discovery of the Necromancer at Dol Guldur (an event previously assigned to Gandalf in the book).  Jackson has stated that an additional twenty minutes will be added back to an Extended Edition for home release but, other than longer versions of the existing scenes, I honestly cannot imagine what that will include.

The Vision

Many of the settings and locations that we saw in the first trilogy – from Hobbiton to Rivendell – have been recreated perfectly.  Once again, the natural wonders of New Zealand are beautifully transformed into the visual treat we come to expect from Peter Jackson and his production designers.

We get to see a bit more of Bag End, particularly Bilbo’s treasured pantry which promptly gets emptied by his guests.

The music recalls the “Hobbiton” theme woven in subtly throughout the beginning – particularly when Bilbo comes bounding down the familiar paths that lead out of the Shire.  Howard Shore does a magnificent job creating new thematic music while complimenting his work from the LOTR.

The Experience In The HFR Format

 There are four versions of the film you can see in selected theaters.  The first is the standard 2D version.  Then there is the standard 3D version and the IMAX 3D version.  The last is a 3D version filmed at the 48 frames per second High Frame Rate (HFR).  This was the version I opted for (though the IMAX version was tempting).

Peter Jackson made a rather cutting edge decision to film The Hobbit in this format, which is double the standard 24 frames per second that we are accustomed to (The adjustment to the standard 2D version was done post-production).  Some have criticized this format as being less “cinematic” looking, to its detriment.  Essentially, the higher frame rate reduces the subtle motion blur that we typically see in movies as the camera pans or as an actor (or prop) moves across the screen.

I will admit that my brain is hard-wired to expect that cinematic look and sometimes the sheer depth and crispness of the images took me out of the experience from time to time.  I’ve heard it described as being more like watching a play than a film and that description is very apt.  On the other hand, once I got used to this difference the experience became more immersive and “up close” if you will.

On balance, I don’t think I’d appreciate this technique in all movies – not even most 3D versions.  But I thought it was worth it in this case.  The ticket price is the same as standard 3D so if you’re so inclined I would recommend it.  There are a few folks, however, who have said they felt a little queasy watching this version so if you’re prone to motion sickness I would factor that in before deciding.

All in all this production exceeded all expectations.

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If you're new to the site and would like to see my review of "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug", you can find it here.

A Brief Pause

Some of you may have noticed the name of my location at the bottom of the right sidebar.  It's Sandy Hook, CT.

Sandy Hook Elementary School is my youngest son's school.  He is safe and sound and we are so grateful that he is with us.

Unfortunately, we know of at least three parents with a connection to us who have suffered great loss.  There is one child in particular who we knew well.  She was a beautiful, sweet little 1st grader who just celebrated her seventh birthday this past Tuesday.

Words cannot express the grief that we are feeling in this community.

I'm not sure exactly when I will be able to see "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey".  At this point, I need this kind of escape from the horror that we have been going through.  But my review of the film will most likely not be up for at least a week.

I ask all of you for your thoughts and prayers for the families affected by this tragedy as well as our town in general.  This is a very difficult time for us.

God Bless.

Reconfiguring and Other Miscellany

The first order of business is a reshuffling of the sidebar menu.  I have now broken the main project (From Book To Script) into three sections, corresponding - as best as I can estimate - with each film.  I have looked through the book to try and determine where each breaking point would be.  Based on the cast listing on the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB.com) for each movie, the track listing for the official soundtrack and the trailers that have been released, I can guess that the first part will end with the rescue of Bilbo, Gandalf and the Dwarves by the Eagles and their arrival at the Carrock (or through Chapter Six).

Each film will need a climactic event at the end, bringing the characters to the next phase of the story.  In the process, there will likely be some additional material brought in from other texts such as Christopher Tolkien’s “The History of Middle-Earth” compilation, the volume of “Unfinished Tales” and various bits from the Appendices of “The Lord of the Rings”.

I would think that the breakdown per film would look something like this:

Film One: “An Unexpected Journey”

Approximate Chapters: 1-6

Major Events:           

Unexpected Party at Bag End

The Stay at Rivendell

The Trolls

Goblin Capture/Fight in the Misty Mountains

The Finding of the Ring and the Riddle Game

Goblin/Warg Attack & Rescue by the Eagles

Extra Material:        

Interactions of Older Bilbo and Frodo (Narration)

Gandalf’s Story Concerning Thror’s Map and Key

Back story of the Orc/Goblin Wars with the Dwarves

Flashbacks to Prior White Council Meeting  

Film Two: “The Desolation of Smaug”

Approximate Chapters: 7-14

Major Events:

Encounter with Beorn

Journey Into Mirkwood

Capture by the Wood Elves

Escape from the Wood Elves/Arrival at Laketown

Journey to and Exploration of Erebor

Encounter With Smaug

Smaug’s Attack on Laketown and Death

Extra Material:        

Additional Back story of the Orc/Goblin Wars 

  with the Dwarves

                                   

Film Three: “There and Back Again”

Approximate Chapters: 15-19

Major Events:           

Arrival of Wood Elves & Alliance with Men of Laketown

Siege of Erebor & Arrival of Dain and the Dwarf Army

Bilbo’s Secret Parlay with Bard and Thranduil

Battle of the Five Armies

The Aftermath of the Battle & Death of Thorin

Return to Bag End, Set Up for LOTR Trilogy

Extra Material:        

Driving Out or the Necromancer from Dol Guldur

Gollum Leaving the Misty Mountains, searching for “Baggins”

Final meeting (as flash forward?) of White Council

The next subject I’ve been pondering has to do with motivation for Peter Jackson’s decision to expand the series from two parts to a trilogy.  Certainly the cynic would chalk this up to a desire on the part of New Line Cinema and Warner Bros to milk this franchise for all its worth.  And I don’t argue against the fact that the second installment could easily have been called “The Hobbit: The Quest for Greater Box Office Receipts”.  But based on Peter Jackson’s treatment of The Lord of the Rings I’m guessing there is something more to it.

Jackson’s style with the previous trilogy seemed to be to film as much material as possible and work out the theatrical version in the editing process.  Although there are some parts of that story that he decided to forego altogether (like Tom Bombadil, the Barrow Downs and the Scouring of the Shire) I conclude that everything that ended up in the Extended Edition DVDs would have been included in the theatrical version if time allowed.

However, understanding how impractical it is to expect an audience comprised of more than just Tolkien die-hards to sit in a theater for more than three hours (though they did push the envelope with The Return of the King).  About a year and a half ago, I attended screenings of the Extended Versions at my local multiplex – one film at a time.  Admittedly, as much as I loved them on the big screen I found it very difficult to sit still through each – needing at least once strategic opportunity to leave the theater to go relieve my bladder.

It could very well be that Jackson felt that there was nothing contained in the original novel that didn’t need to be translated to film (contrary to my original assumptions).  And, of course, how many complaints did Jackson get from fans about particular moments from the books that were left out of the final version?

The other point to be made is that the rhythm of the story does in fact lend itself to three acts.  Recall that PJ’s original pitch to New Line for The Lord of the Rings was a two film presentation.  It was actually Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne, the studio’s executives, who pointed out to Jackson that it should be three films.  Perhaps reflecting on that experience the Director looked at the all the “extra” scenes he had filmed (principal photography concluded on July 6) and decided, rather than reserve them for Extended Editions, to retain most of them and round out three full installments.  Indeed, as outlined above, it’s not hard to see that the book actually divides neatly into three acts.

So, the first of these installments will premiere on December 14^th.  My next post will be a review of the film, followed by a separate analysis of my predictions for the chapters that were covered in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”.

Enjoy the show!!