The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey
Director: Peter Jackson
Year 2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey is a whimsical return to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth, lovingly seen
through the eyes of New
Zealand director Peter Jackson and brought
to life by an eclectic cast of outstanding actors. As the first of a proposed
trilogy, An Unexpected Journey maintains all of the aspects of Jackson’s epic
Lord of the Rings trilogy, yet scales it down to a more intimate portrayal of
the young Bilbo Baggins and his colorful adventure in the company of Gandalf
the Grey and thirteen dwarves, as they set out to reclaim the Lonely Mountain
from the dragon Smaug. In fanciful and often over the top style, Jackson crafts
this new trilogy in the vein of Tolkien’s original story, but never forgets to
keep the continuity of his original trilogy intact as he explores all the
richness that Middle-Earth has to offer. If you truly loved the three films
that Peter Jackson gifted to the world of cinema nine years ago, then there is
no reason why you shouldn’t be swept up in this new fun-filled adventure.
The film takes place 60
years prior to the events in The Fellowship of the Ring, focusing on a youthful
Bilbo Baggins as he is swept up into one of the most unexpected of adventures.
Bombarded by thirteen dwarves and a wizard, Bilbo is enlisted to partake as the
company’s burglar, which charges him with the task of smuggling treasures from
a dragon who has overtaken the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erabor. As they set out
east towards the Lonely
Mountain to reclaim their
ancestral home, the company encounters monstrous trolls, vicious wargs,
vengeful orcs, nasty goblins, and an ancient evil that is making its way back
into the world of Middle-Earth. With such an impossible task ahead of them, it’s
safe to say that the road ahead for this intrepid company will be a rough one
indeed, but with the unexpected help of a small Hobbit, anything is possible.
Martin Freeman takes on the
iconic role of Bilbo Baggins, the homebody Hobbit who has no interest in
adventures, or dragons for that matter. Previously performed by the legendary British
actor Ian Holm, Freeman takes the aspects that made the character in the
original trilogy so endearing and memorable, and places his own personal twist
on how an inexperienced Bilbo Baggins would react to being unwittingly enlisted
on such a perilous mission as to reclaim a kingdom from a fearsome dragon such
as Smaug. His apprehensive and ornery approach to the journey is stupendously
executed and genuinely conveyed, and the spark of bravery that ignites in his
character once deciding to partake in the quest is particularly infectious,
making us want to join in on the company’s grand scheme and see the wonders
that Middle-Earth has to offer. Martin Freeman was Peter Jackson’s first choice
for Bilbo Baggins, and after seeing him in action as the iconic character you
can see why. He gives Bilbo a heart and soul and a humanistic quality that
allows you to really root for him and sympathize with all that he is going through.
Bilbo Baggins is a small creature in an expansive world, and Freeman does a
heartfelt job in portraying this centralized theme in the most subtle and
inviting of ways.
Aside from Freeman’s
excellent work in the film, Ian McKellen and Richard Armitage also manage to
bring a substantial amount of weight to their respective characters. Of course,
McKellen is reprising his role as Gandalf the Grey, the wise and compassionate
wizard who we came to know in The Fellowship of the Ring, before he was reborn
as Gandalf the White. Bringing with him that same charm and whimsical magic
that so captured our hearts in 2003, McKellen melds into the character of
Gandalf allowing us to be swept up all over again and taken on another
outstanding adventure into the wilds of Middle-Earth. Richard Armitage takes on
the character of Thorin Oakenshield, heir to the throne of Erebor and leader to
the group of dwarves and Bilbo. Armitage has an amazing presence in this film
and his portrayal of the jaded and hardened Thorin is a thing of beauty. While
most of the dwarves emote a more capricious and quirky charm, Thorin on the
other hand provides the movie with a dire and grave outlook on the state of
Middle-Earth, particularly within the Dwarvish race. Haunted by his past and
continually in fear of losing the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor to a greater foe than
Smaug, Armitage realizes all of these conceptualized themes in the clearest and
succinct of ways providing a character that has a tremendous amount of pull and
duality that will serve the story as it continues on to its second and third
entries. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to seeing his full character arc
by the end of this trilogy.
As for the rest of the cast,
we’re given an overflow of overwhelming personalities in the form of the rest
of the Dwarven adventurers. With a sea of fanciful names like, Balin, Dwalin,
Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Nori, Dori, and Ori, you’re
asking for an abundance of confusion on the viewer’s part as they are lost in
the confusion of names and faces within this varied party. Luckily Jackson is able to
differentiate this Dwarven mess of personas from each other allowing for a
select pick of the group to stand out as the story moves along. A few of the
standout characters are Balin performed by Ken Stott, Bofur played by James
Nesbitt, and Dwalin taken on by Graham McTavish. Balin and Bofur particularly
make an impression on the audience, for they interact with the main players of
the piece the most. There are some great moments in the film where Ken Stott’s
Balin allocates a beautifully rendered back-story on Thorin and the way in
which he earned his surname, Oakenshield, while James Nesbitt’s Bofur has a
truly heartwarming scene between an apprehensive Bilbo Baggins as he has doubts
of ever joining the party in the first place. There are many great instances
like these throughout the film, and I can only speculate that we will be able
to further explore the rest of the crew of Dwarves in the next two
installments. Either way you look at it, the designs and personalities of the
Dwarves are exceptionally creative and entirely enjoyable and the group as a
whole gives a great cohesive feel for the history and brotherhood that the
Dwarven race posses.
When it comes to the overall
presentation of Middle-Earth, Peter Jackson has gone above and beyond the call
of duty in painstakingly keeping the continuity of his previous iterations of
this mythical world intact, while at the same time injecting an energetic feel
to the proceedings. In this first entry of the new trilogy, the world of
Middle-Earth feels more fanciful and fantasy based. In the Lord of the Rings
films we were placed in a time period in Middle-Earth where tensions were
running high and wars were engulfing the people of the land, but in The Hobbit
we are introduced to a more peaceful era in which the rising of Sauron is only
but a whisper in the grand scheme of things. We get a good deal of foreboding
in the form of the Necromancer, which is Sauron’s first early attempt at effecting
the world of Middle-Earth, but other then that the evil of this world is just
beginning to sprout.
This is replicated in the
way that Jackson
depicts the world in this entry. The colors are brighter, the people more
vivid, and the overall tone of the film is much more expressive in both their
energy and whimsy. I find the difference between this entry and the atmosphere
of the Lord of the Rings trilogy quite jarring but also rather engaging in the
possibilities of being able to witness the overall feel of the entire series’
story arc, as we see the world of Middle-Earth change from an almost fairytale
existence to a hardened world of dark change and formidable consequences. The
contrast of the tone of the two trilogies is an interesting one and I’d also
like to chock it up to that The Hobbit is more of a retelling by Bilbo Baggins
in his own words. In the beginning of the film, we are re-introduced to the
elder Bilbo Baggins, portrayed by Ian Holm, as he begins recollecting his past
adventures while putting ink to paper in his journal. As I look back on the
film after my first viewing, I like to think that maybe as he begins recalling
his adventure, that he might tend to embellish what happened to him and his
party like many storytellers are prone to do, resulting in the hyper-realized
depiction of the film.
What ever way you look at it,
the end result is a rip-roaring rollercoaster ride that takes us from the
humble beginnings of the party’s meeting at the Shire to the thunderous
conclusion which pits the adventurers against an army of goblins underneath the
Misty Mountains and a brutal squad of orcs
riding wargs atop a perilous cliff side. The action moments of this film are
sweeping to say the least, and you really get a sense that you are on one wild
and crazy ride. Not only that, but the intimate and character driven moments of
the movie are also just as enthralling and rewarding. From Thorin and Bilbo’s
rocky relationship, to Gandalf’s desperate attempts to inform the White Council
of a growing evil in Mirkwood
Forest, to the Dwarves
impassioned plan to retake Erebor, the film is jam-packed with some grand
schemes and thought-provoking narratives. Though The Hobbit is stemmed from a
children’s novel, Peter Jackson and crew have perfectly melded the whimsical
tone of the novel with the epic scale of Jackson’s own Lord of the Rings
movies, to make a origins film of sorts that only serves to add to the
overwhelmingly expansive and storied cinematic world of this ever endearing
series of fantasy films.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey is a wonderful start to what I’m sure will be a very satisfying trilogy
for fans of the Lord of the Rings films. It has the realized world, the
believable characters, and the overall impressive story arc that is needed in
order to tell one hell of a compelling story. Immersive in every sense of the
word, the story reveals a window into Middle-Earth that we’ve never seen
before, yet it is as familiar as visiting an old and loved friend. With the
return of so many original cast members like Ian McKellan, Elijah Wood, Ian
Holm, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis, and Christopher Lee, it’s hard
not to get excited to revisit this beloved world.
What makes this film that
much more enthralling and engrossing though, is the inclusion of so many new
and exciting characters to fall in love with. Martin Freeman’s portrayal of
Bilbo Baggins and Richard Armitage’s take on Thorin Oakenshield, is as
captivating as they come and the madcap actions of all the Dwarves is a wonder
to behold. Middle-Earth as a whole has never looked better, as we are presented
with a never ending barrage of beautiful picturesque landscapes and
outstandingly outlandish architecture. The visuals are supercharged with that
affluent fantasy feel, which perfectly depicts this peaceful and carefree era
of Middle-Earth just before the rising of the storm.
With its epic runtime and
ultimately scolded decision to spread a two part movie into three parts, The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey gives an excellent example on how more is better
when it comes to imagining this extensive world that J.R.R. Tolkien has dreamt
up. For me the pacing of the film, even in the early stages of the movie, were
perfectly laid out, making this three hour film really fly by. And as for the
decision to expand the films into a trilogy, how can we really complain about
getting more Middle-Earth? As far as I’m concerned, I could watch an endless
supply of these films if they stay at the same caliber that Peter Jackson and
company have been able to churn out. If you have any apprehensions about seeing
this film for yourself and you’re an avid fan of the already well established
series of films, you owe it to your cinema loving self to see it as soon as
possible. I have a feeling you won’t be disappointed. This new journey into
Middle-Earth is…..
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| Why so serious Bilbo? |
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| Freeman.... you sneaky little Hobbit. |
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| Your hair looks exquisite Gandalf! What kind of conditioner do you use? |
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| I shall call you STING! |
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| Someone put the coins on Thorin's eyes, cause he sure don't believe what he is seeing. |
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| Goblin King! You fat bastard! |
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| Ahhhh! How cute. |
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| Thorin's on top of the world! |
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| Troll Opera is horrid. |
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| Go long! SHIT! |
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| Who's that sexy blacksmith? |
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| How come I didn't get a pony Gandalf? |
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| Radagast... You've got some shit on you.... Never mind. |
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| You shall not.... Miss out on this awesome movie! |
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| Dagnabbit! Is Thorin checking out my ass again? |
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| I see you up there cameraman! |
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| Gandalf? Was that you or the horse that just farted? |
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| Weeeeeeeeee! |
