Film Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

 by Ariana Burrell 

"Home is behind you, the world is ahead." Gandalf 

The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien is a 1937 children's fantasy novel following the adventure of hobbit Bilbo Baggins and a group of dwarves as they try to reclaim Lonely Mountain and its treasure from Smaug the dragon. Peter Jackson directs all 3 parts of the trilogy (originally 2 parts but the studio expanded to 3 films after filming had wrapped) and all 3 Lord of the Rings films, also based on Tolkien's novels. The films were shot in New Zealand in 266 days (average film shoot is 30 days). As of today, the film has grossed almost $700 million worldwide.

I watched the film in the traditional 24 frames per second and in 3D. The 3D elements were very well integrated into the film and seemed planned, however it is not necessary to watch the film in 3D to enjoy it. I did not like the 3D because I found it to be dizzying at times and uncomfortable to wear the glasses on top of my normal glasses.

The Hobbit: An Expected Journey was good but not great. It took me 45 minutes to become invested in the film because the film moved slowly at the start. The film is visually stunning with meticulous costume pieces and props creating distinct characters. All of the sets pieces have different textures, creating a very rich environment. The Hobbit has a much lighter tone and more humor than I remember in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. However, it has been a while since I rewatched the films.

Martin Freeman plays Bilbo Baggins. He reacts as the audience would reacts to the situation. You might recognize him as Watson in the BBC Sherlock series. I usually find it hard imagine actors that I love in a certain role acting in something different, but I had no problem with this film. His scene with Smeagol is one of my favorites because it is visually beautiful, gorgeous soundscape (as did the entire film) and smartly written (that's all I'm going to say so as not to spoil anything).

There is an abundance of fight sequences. As someone who does not like violence, I found the fight sequences to be longer than needed to move the story along. However, each fight sequence is very distinct. The dwarves and Bilbo fight with brains instead of brute force (which they have very little of in comparison to the sheer size of the creatures they are fighting against), especially the goblin fight sequence (again avoiding spoilers). The film is rated PG-13, and the novel is geared toward children, but I would have been terrified of this film as a child.

This probably goes without saying but this is an extremely effects heavy film. Almost every shot has some sort of effect, which as someone wanting to go into post production I found overwhelming the sheer volume of material the editors must have had to work with. All of the special effects were beautifully done and really helped to create a world different from our own. I appreciated the abundant use of wide shots because the filmmakers could have easily shied away from them in order to bring down the budget. If you are interested in how they made the film, Peter Jackson kept a production diary documenting the process at thehobbitblog.com. If you haven't seen it, I would highly suggest watching it.

"Courage is knowing when not to kill." Gandalf