Peter Jackson and company have traveled back to Middle Earth to bring J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit to the big screen. With the same director, writers, cinematographer, film editor, production designer, set decorator, musical score director, supervising sound editor, and a handful of actors ALL from the original Lord of the Rings films, are we to expect the same caliber film with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey?
Plot:
Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit from the Shire, is swept into an adventure with thirteen dwarves who are determined to recapture their homeland, which was stolen by a dragon named Smaug.
Editor’s Note: I saw the film twice, once in 48 frames per second 3D, and then in regular 2D. This review is based off the HFR 3D version, since that is how The Hobbit was meant to be viewed.
My Thoughts:
In the wise words of one of my friends, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is a nearly unfilmable story. It is a fairly short book, which is why I instantly questioned Peter Jackson’s decision to make three feature-length films for The Hobbit. I feared that this would stretch the story far more than it could, and consequently the screenwriters would add unnecessary side plots in order to fill up time. And, lo and behold, they did just that.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is unnecessarily bloated, with PJ spending too much time exploring side plots that carry little significance. The editors could have easily cut 30 minutes off the 2 hour, 49 minute runtime, and it would have kept both Tolkien purists and casual movie-goers happy. This is certainly not a fatal flaw, but it does not stop there.
The most destructive aspect of An Unexpected Journey is Peter Jackson’s direction. The entire film feels like PJ wanted to create the next Avatar film. Cheap humor riddles nearly every scene; fanatic, law-defying acts appear everywhere; and bright, over-contrasted landscapes and creatures make the audience feel like they’re in fantasy-land. Now granted, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a children’s story, but in no way does it read like a cheap fantasy novel. Tolkien’s writing genius came from his ability to make the surreal appear ever-so real, and PJ and company harnessed this with unparalleled skill with the Lord of the Rings films. However, PJ utterly abandons this direction in An Unexpected Journey, and the result is less-than-satisfactory.
Is there anything that saves An Unexpected Journey from being a failure? The 3D version does. It was meant to be seen in 3D, and, my goodness, what a visual experience. While the battle scenes appear dull and poorly animated in 2D, they come alive and real in 3D. I had the most fun watching these battle scenes, along with a splendidly-acted scene between Bilbo and the creature Gollum. Another saving grace was Martin Freeman’s acting performance as Bilbo Baggins. He plays the role beautifully, and, on my second viewing, I noticed that any cheesiness that comes from his part can be blamed on PJ and the screenwriters once again. While Sir Ian McKellen couldn’t quite grasp the role of Gandalf as well as he did a decade ago, he still did a praise-worthy job of playing the old wizard.
I cannot say the same for the actors playing the 13 dwarves. Besides a strong performance by Ben Stott as Balin and James Nesbitt as Bofur, the dwarves were poorly acted. Once again, I blame PJ for this, because these dwarves were poorly casted in the first place. It is an unfortunate and entirely avoidable problem that presents itself most vividly in the opening scenes in Bilbo’s hobbit-hole.
I never, ever thought I would want it, but here I am wishing that Peter Jackson did not direct An Unexpected Journey. I had fun watching it in 3D, but the direction, casting, and writing were, while not terrible, pretty disappointing. I hope for a day in the distant future when another director decides to film the Hobbit in one, maybe two films, pull the script directly from the book, and create a realism to The Hobbit that would launch the film above the masses of big-budget fantasy movies overcrowding the film industry.
Rating: 5.5/10
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