Movie Review: "The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey"

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (First of Three Parts) 
Director: Peter Jackson
Length: Approximately 3 hours

When I was sixteen I had a very bad bout of gastroenteritis (possibly as a result of leakage from the septic tank behind our house) and was laid up in bed for about two weeks. A family friend who took pity on my infirmity and sent a book home from work with my father for me to read. It was "The Lord of the Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien. I was captivated by it and could not put it down.

After this introduction to Tolkien's fantasy world of hobbits, wizards, elves, dwarves and other creatures, I was "hooked" and went on to read every other published work that was available, including "The Hobbit" and "The Silmarillion".

I did enjoy the three LOTR movies - "The Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers" and "The Return of the King". Three movies made sense as this rather large book is divided into three parts. However, when I heard that the relatively slim volume of "The Hobbit" was being made into three separate movies, I was somewhat incredulous. The reviews of the first Hobbit movie I have read and heard have been somewhat mixed, but the trailers on TV and the program on the making of this new movie were attractive and tipped the balance in favour of going to see it.

On balance, it did not disappoint, but parts of it are overly long. As the 'prequel' to LOTR, it was a little strange to see an older and more angular-faced Elijah Wood as Frodo, but Ian McKellar as Gandalf, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel and Hugo Weaving as Elrond have held off the ravages of age well. Martin Freeman was brilliant as Bilbo Baggins, a reluctant hero but a hero nevertheless. There are background scenes which are obviously CGI, but the remainder of it is New Zealand's breathtaking natural beauty. Be warned that there is a lot of violence, which at times seems somewhat gratuitous due to the drawn out nature of some segments.

The highlights must surely include the 'invasion' of Bilbo's house by the company of dwarves and Gandalf before setting off on their quest to reclaim their home within 'The Lonely Mountain'. (The ruthless decimation of the dwarves by the bad-boy fire-breathing Smaug the Dragon is depicted in the introduction.) They literally eat Bilbo "out of house and home" and then clean up spotlessly afterwards! There are several rather strange collective singing interludes, almost tempting you to wonder if you are watching a musical. After Bilbo decides to join them on the adventure, there are repetitive encounters with orcs (led by a particularly unpleasant large albino orc) and also with slow-witted mountain trolls, giants and goblins. During an interlude in Rivendell, Gandalf meets with Elrond, Galadriel and Saruman. The latter (somewhat unconvincingly) does not believe that there is sufficient evidence to believe that evil is again rising out of Mordor and does not support the quest by the dwarves, but they have anticipated the objections and already left town! Gandalf gives Bilbo one of those handy blades designed to glow blue when orcs are around, and telling him that the challenging thing is not taking a life, but knowing when not to take a life. This is a prescient remark relating to Bilbo's later encounter with Gollum. Gollum drops The Ring and Bilbo picks it up, and Gollum realises he has it and wants to kill Bilbo to take it back. Bilbo puts on the ring and whilst 'cloaked' has the opportunity to kill Gollum but decides not to and pushes past him instead.

Sections which are overly long-winded include the encounters with the orcs, the eccentric Brown Wizard (played by Sylvester McCoy, a former "Dr Who") seeking the cause of the dying forest and its creatures, their time "in the hall of the Mountain King" when they are captured by goblins and the exchange of riddles between Bilbo and Gollum in the subterranean cavern.

Amazingly the whole company of twelve dwarves (who are a very ecclectic bunch) survive to the end of the first instalment. At the death they are rescued from the orcs and their very large and savage wolf-like creatures by the giant eagles summoned by Gandalf. Less than half the dwarves are developed characterisation-wise. Their leader, dwarf prince Thorin, is proud and headstrong and not that likeable, but by the end he seems to be mellowing and acknowledges he was wrong about Bilbo and shows gratitude that Bilbo saved Thorin's life by bravely facing down the orcs (until reinforcements arrived) while he was injured.

British Actor James Nesbitt plays one of the more amiable dwarves, and it was interesting to see Kiwi actor Dean O’Gorman, who plays Anders, Norse god made human, in the NZ fantasy series "Almighty Johnsons" (recently shown on Australian TV).

The well-crafted and at times suitably dramatic music is again by Howard Shore and at times we hear the 'leitmotives' from both the Shore and LOTR. The other production values are also as usual excellent. However, this film is unashamedly a self-indulgent vehicle for Director Peter Jackson. A movie critic told be recently that she does not go to see his movies "as he does not have an "edit" switch" and the movies are just too long

If you are a fan of Tolkien you will probably find enough to enjoy in this film and will look forward to finding out "what happens next". The film ends the company high on a mountain gazing at The Lonely Mountain in the distance whilst the dragon Smaug, buried under tonnes of dwarfish gold, awakes from a sixty-year slumber in response to the sound of a bird trying to crack a nut far above. A malevolent reptilian-looking eye peeks out from under the gold...