The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Disappointment

Bilbo (Martin Freeman) rushes to begin his journey (Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter)

Peter Jackson set Academy Award and box office records with his Lord of the Rings trilogy, which went on to be considered three of the greatest films ever made. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was released nine years after the original series ended, with Jackson, as well as several other members of the cast and crew, returning. Unfortunately, the few familiar names and faces were about the only things notable that returned to theaters in the realm of Middle Earth.

An Unexpected Journey takes place decades before The Fellowship of the Ring, and follows the first part of Bilbo Baggins’ “There and Back Again” story. The Wizard Gandalf the Grey, accompanied by twelve dwarves, invites Bilbo to accompany him and his companions on their journey to reclaim the dwarves’ homeland, which is occupied by the seemingly unconquerable dragon Smaug.

The first entry in this new trilogy begins with a background story of the taking of the dwarf kingdom, then flashes forward to Bilbo and Frodo (played by their original portrayers in Fellowship) on the day of Bilbo’s birthday party. Bilbo’s decision to write about his tale prompts a flashback to his journey. This entry of the soon-to-be trilogy spans from Gandalf’s arrival in the Shire to shortly after Bilbo meets Gollum and acquires The Ring, with close calls with trolls, a visit to Rivendell, and run ins with orcs and goblins in between.

This was undoubtedly a good movie. The standout performance was by Richard Armitage, who portrayed the leader of the dwarves, Thorin Oakinshield. The battle of wits between Gollum and Bilbo in the depths of a cave was incredibly tense and well done. The movie had good (not great) action. Ultimately, all I can call this movie is good, and I would recommend it, but there were serious detractors.

The Hobbit is a different story from The Lord of the Rings, which was a reason why Jackson was initially hesitant to return to Middle Earth. Despite this, the film relied too heavily on its references to last decade’s trilogy, such as the inclusion of Elijah Wood and Ian Holmes as Frodo and older Bilbo. We also saw the return of Christopher Lee as Saruman and Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, neither of which appear in the novel. If Jackson wanted to make it clear that these were different stories, why include these characters? As a fan of the original trilogy, I was happy to see them again, but their presence weakened making this a stand-alone movie and the start of a new franchise.

One area never gone into was the character development of the twelve dwarves. They were on the screen for the majority of the film, but we never got to know each one as an individual. In Fellowship, everyone in the fellowship was distinct and had an ample amount of development. In Unexpected Journey, even after two hours of exposure, I couldn’t tell you the names of at least eight of the twelve dwarves. In Fellowship, when Gandalf fell, my heart fell, and still does everytime I watch the “you shall not pass” scene. When Boromir passes away after a heartfelt goodbye to Aragorn, we as an audience felt. In this movie, we didn’t feel. Maybe we will over the next six or so hours that we get to see of these dwarves over the next two installments in the series.

Another regrettable mistake was the employment of comic relief. Frankly, it didn’t work. In the original trilogy, we would get comic relief from specific characters (Merry and Pippin, Legolas and Gimli). In this movie, it was just interjected at the most obscure moments, at almost any point, from almost any character. The original movies were so well made that I could both feel heartbreak and laugh at a joke. I couldn’t do both in this movie.

Finally, and the most disappointing of disappointments, was the use of special effects. Not only were the special effects in this movie worse than those of the original eleven years ago, they were used more frequently in this movie. Whereas the orcs and goblins were actors in makeup in the originals, they were products of special effects in this entry. This made the film look worse visually, and it took away some of the realism in an otherwise magical world. This, combined with poor cinematography, made the fight scenes a jumble of figures swinging swords in the dark.

With a 165-minute runtime, I would have thought that Jackson would have been able to use his time more effectively. Instead he dragged on the story, making me wonder how he’ll be able to fill in these next two movies. There better be a lot more solid, purposeful dialogue and better, more clear action scenes. Jackson has proven himself to be a great filmmaker, and I have faith he can improve on this entry with the next two. But dragging a children’s novel out to about nine hours of film content is a tough task for any filmmaker, and so far, Jackson is only doing just above par.

Although the majority of this review has been nitpicking at the movie, I must emphasize that it is a good movie – but just that – a good movie. Not great, not spectacular, not life changing, just good. Those of you eager to return to Middle Earth will be satisfied, but only just. There’s a reason this movie hasn’t garnered Oscar buzz or been named a contender for Best Picture, and that’s because unlike its predecessors, this journey to Middle Earth fails to deliver its full potential.

Rating: 3.5/5