El's Review: The Hobbit - The Unexpected Journey

Title: The Hobbit – The Unexpected Journey

Directed: Peter Jackson

Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Sylvester McCoy

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Stars: 5/5

It begins with a thrilling backstory of a historical dwarf-city that is invaded by a dragon obsessed with gold. Enter Bilbo Baggins, or as we know better know him; Martin Freeman.

Everytime I see Martin Freeman I always think of him from ‘The Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy’, an image I cannot shake from my head of a man in his 30s wearing a dressing gown. He’s a great actor don’t get me wrong but I always find it hard to follow actors in different roles. To his credit, The Hobbit probably wouldn’t have worked without him.

If, like me, you are an avid LOTRO fan you will recognise some of the sights immediately, such as Rivendell, Moria, the stone giants, the orcs, the wargs etc etc. Many of the scenes were shot in the beautiful views of New Zealand which acted as the perfect backdrop for the film giving justice to the book itself. The combined sights and sounds (obvious dramatic music and upbeat catchy verses for the odd ‘just running around’ scenes) were set beautifully and have not degraded The Lord of the Rings in any way and made me want to revisit LOTR to experience some of that magic once again (Will be watching the trio within the next week or so!). The CGI was done extremely professionally that I did not notice all the areas that must have been done. The stone giants must have been largely CGI and the detail was astounding.

 Gandalf has always been a favourite characters of mine and in The Hobbit you get the chance to see him perhaps not so confidence and self-assured as he has been in LOTR which was brilliant to see, nothing better than finding the backstory of a character. Other familiar faces such as Elrond, Galadriel, Saruman and Gollum return and provide a constant and much needed link between The Hobbit and LOTR.

The scenes between Gollum and ‘Bagginses’ were beautiful to watch with the constant riddle torment and the obviously personal torment for Gollum/Smeargul ending in the clever ‘What have I got in my pocket’ scenario. We finally got to see why exactly Bilbo had the ring in the first place (setting the scene for the LOTR trio) and that he does know a little about the power of the ring. Although Bilbo plays a character that does not know much about much, this adventure is the making of him and quite predictably eventually shines, saving one of the vital characters and becoming a valuable member of the team.

The whole film was much more upbeat and light compared to the heavy action-filled LOTR. I have always loved LOTR and did enjoy The Hobbit just as much, if not more. The fascination of the ordinary Bilbo Baggins (yes, just plain ordinary) with attachment issues to his mother’s plates and determination not to change. Bilbo is set to embark on a life-changing adventure with a gentle shove from a friendly voice. The storyline provides us with a life lesson; new adventures and experiences are all around but they have to be embraced.

Admittedly a little disappointment and dread filled my heart when Bilbo spoke his last words ‘I think we are over the worst now’. Of course not, it’s a three parter.