Movie review: The Hobbit – big things have small beginnings

This is a highly entertaining film, which is well worth the journey to the box office.

Although it is true that no one forges a fantasy epic quite like director Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings trilogy), the fact that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has ultimately proved to be an excellent fantasy adventure film is a touch unexpected.  Not only did this first film in the prequel trilogy to the Lord of the Rings films languish in development hell to the point where it lost its whimsical first choice director (Guillermo del Toro), but the decision by the filmmakers to stretch the small sized book, The Hobbit (J. R. R. Tolkien), into three films, much like a dragon’s lust for gold, reeked of franchise greed.  

The good news is that Peter Jackson has once again overcome the odds with a tremendous piece of swashbuckling entertainment. An Unexpected Journey has the heartiness of a hobbit, the excellence in craftsmanship of an elven artisan, and the brawn of a stone giant in its engaging action sequences. As evident from this first installment in the new trilogy, fears that the source material  has been stretched too thin now seem unwarranted. This is a well-paced journey, opening in a slow yet highly compelling fashion, in sequences that are a real visual treat for fans of Middle Earth, and eventually culminating in an emotionally charged finale.

Unfortunately, Peter Jackson in his attempt at creating a thematic connection with the The Lord of the Rings films often ignores the quirky nature of The Hobbit, creating a gritty mood in An Unexpected Journey that doesn’t quite match the children’s novel of J. R. R. Tolkien. There are also slight modifications in the characters of the protagonists to suit the silver screen, which make for a better film overall, even as they reduce it to a strictly cookie cutter fantasy.

Bilbo Baggins is played in a perfectly hobbity performance by Martin Freeman, who performs well, displaying the gentle Halfling creature’s mannerisms quite naturally. Here, Bilbo is shown to be an unlikely hero, who puts aside his reservations to come to the aid of Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) as well as the thirteen dwarves on a mission teeming with peril.

Fans may be disappointed to note that Bilbo here doesn’t quite resemble the physical proportions of the round chubby creature described by J. R. R. Tolkien in his writings. But clearly the change in appearance  is made to make the character more  accessible to audiences.

The mission that Bilbo joins, of course, is the dwarves’ quest to liberate their abandoned home, the Lonely Mountain, from Smaug the dragon. The dwarves, who are all hardy beings, require the services of Bilbo due to the stealthy nature of his kind. And while they all doubt Bilbo due to his mild demeanor, Gandalf believes that the hobbit’s soul will be pivotal to the outcome of their mission.

The other interesting character in the film is Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), who is the brave leader of the company of dwarves, and a king in exile. Thorin is the grandson of King Thrór, whose indulgence in the excess of gold invites the attack of Smaug the dragon and results in the mass exodus of the dwarven people from the Lonely Mountain.

In another deviation from the original, An Unexpected Journey showcases Thorin with more humanoid features — clearly to create a more identifiable lead character. Thorin also has some fantastic battle sequences, including a particularly savage one with Azog the Defiler (Manu Bennett), who had enraged Thorin by beheading King Thrór. Also, Thorin has far more friction with Bilbo than he did in the book. And unlike the novel, where his mission back to the Lonely Mountain was motivated mostly by gold, in the film, the noble Thorin’s motives are for the greater good of his people.

These changes in Thorin’s character are an obvious attempt at creating the classic hero archetype, but they suckered me in just fine, to the point where I was cheering whenever Thorin drew steel. It also helped that these action scenes featuring Thorin were powered by a beautifully emotive soundtrack, which enhanced such sequences.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey lasts roughly one third of the book in its adapted from, and functions mostly as a setup for Peter Jackson’s new franchise. This is a highly entertaining film, which although doesn’t quite reach the top of the mountain, is still well worth the journey to the box office.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 6^th, 2013.

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