After a very long nine years, Peter Jackson has finally released his version of The Hobbit, well at least one part anyway. In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Gandalf (Ian McKellen) convinces young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) to go on an adventure with 13 dwarves to help them reclaim their home and treasure from the fire breathing dragon known as Smaug. On this journey our ragtag group of warriors will encounter battling stone giants, trolls, packs of vicious orcs and some familiar faces from the Lord of the Rings films for an adventure that’s just starting to gear up.
Let me start off by saying that I’ve never read the novels so don’t expect a comparison to anything else but the other Lord of the Rings films. Peter Jackson’s latest is an entertaining film that’s cursed by his desire to turn all his footage into three films. Though The Hobbit is only one book, it seems best suited for a maximum of two films seeing as how this first one moves at a snail’s pace. I, and I think everyone will agree, that this movie is simply slow until it hits roughly the two hour mark (or when then leave Rivendell-whatever is first), it’s at that point the film really picks up and excitement begins to build, probably because Gollum arrives to brighten everyone’s day and a massive chase scene takes place. The shameful part is that the enthusiasm you just built up gets shattered moments later because the movie ends. It is right at the point where you’re ready to take the full plunge into his fantasy world that Jackson takes the main course off the table until The Desolation of Smaug rolls around.
So was there anything positive about the film? Yes, for sure. As I mentioned above once the action started to pick up in the third act we had ourselves a fun adventure chock full of a bunch of little people and a big old wizard kicking ass. The actors were fun and the dynamic between everyone was rather quirky, except for Bilbo who was simply trying to fit in and do his part. Everything surrounding Bilbo, Thorin (Richard Armitage) and the slowly surfacing dark forces is where most of the drama is derived from. While some of it got a bit tedious, the rest of it was compelling and really helped the audience understand Bilbo’s character, how he evolves and where he stands in Middle Earth’s story. Additionally, I thought all the actors did a wonderful job and truly embraced their roles, I particularly enjoyed the early scenes when the dwarves would sing their songs. Furthermore, the effects are fantastic, as to be expected and Jackson has continued to successfully build upon his magical world in a way only he could do, it truly was inspiring.
I’ want touch on the 48 frames per second (aka High Frame Rat
e) 3D showing I saw since some of you will actually experience it. I wish Peter Jackson eased people into the 48 fps exhibition rather than making us jump right into it. Showing the film in that format and in 3D gave me a bit of a head ache. The HFR didn’t do much to add to the overall enjoyment of the picture but it did increase the visual quality, making certain scenes look absolutely breathtaking. That being said, the HFR doesn’t look like cinema and is one of those things that you “get used to” after about 15-20 minutes of the film. The way I describe the experience is that it was like watching a TV show or a movie for the first time in HD on an LED TV screen, it just looks weird and either too real or very fake. Most people won’t like the format and I prefer my standard frame rate of 24 fps for now, but it was an experiment that was worth a shot and at least it was done with a somewhat quality film rather than a piece of trash.
Overall, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is at the bottom of my list when it comes to Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films. I know the novel has a different feel to it (so I’m told) but this movie was just a giant set-up to the real adventures that’ll take place in the following two films. The best way to approach this movie is by going in and expecting a slow movie, you’ll enjoy it for the most part but it’ll be a long and slow process before the entertainment value settles in and your excitement begins to build.
Rating: An enjoyable but slow feature that’ll likely end up being at the bottom of the LOTR list when the others are released (6.3/10)
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