When Return Of The King opened and closed The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, in what seems an age ago in itself, back in 2003 it seemed inevitable that sooner rather than later Peter Jackson would be setting his sights on a return to Middle Earth and continue committing the words of Tolkien to the cinema screen as he did so successfully with that trilogy. Several years passed, The Hobbit was mired in various rights disputes, King Kong and the mis-step that was The Lovely Bones came and went before it was finally announced that Jackson was indeed to return, albeit not as director for The Hobbit. Events conspired to see that Jackson replaced the original director Guillermo Del Toro and once again set out with the responsibility of turning one of the most read and hugely loved books of the last century into a film that would do the book justice on the cinema screen. The controversy of actually getting The Hobbit onto the cinema screen didn’t end there, with two more headline making decisions made during pre-production and production itself – firstly there was the decision by Jackson to film The Hobbit films not only in 3D but at a frame rate of 48 frames per second, twice the cinematic norm of 24 frames per second, and latterly the decision to make not just two Hobbit films but there, the choice being made to avoid cutting large chunks of plot and shot footage by expanding the story to fill out a trilogy of films.
The 48 frames per second frame rate decision is a huge gamble, as not only did it split opinion before a second of the film had even been shown, but it continued to divide viewpoints during the release of footage at this year’s Comic Con event where onlookers expressed a dismay at the look that the higher frame rate had produced. Whilst the increased rate aims to produce better results in smoother panning across scenes especially during action sequences the problems it threw up were sets looking like sets rather than actual cinematic worlds, and some of the prosthetic make up on the actors was clearly visible. Not only that but complaints were made that the look of the film itself changed from the cinematic feel that everyone has been used to for nearly a century to that of a cheaper, soap opera presentation. Unfortunately the 48fps option is only available in the 3D release of the film, and not being a fan of 3D to say the least I saw the film in the traditional 24fps, 2D version so can’t say whether the effect is good, bad or indifferent, or if it helped make 3D viewing easier for some people who get headaches from watching 3D films.
As for the decision to split the story over three instalments, only time will tell how wise a decision it was, and how well the story performs as a whole and whether it is compelling enough to justify the decision or an exercise in padding that was unwise and/or unnecessary. Thankfully, as far as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is concerned, it is overall a fairly successful return to the world of Tolkien for Jackson, as well as the writing team of Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens alongside him and several of the series bigger name actors. I have to admit at this point that, as with Lord Of The Rings, I haven’t read The Hobbit and so went to see the film without any preconceptions or wide knowledge of the events of the book and how they may or may not differ in the translation from page to screen.
Our journey begins with the older Bilbo played again by Ian Holm deciding to write the story of his adventures prior to the events of The Fellowship Of The Ring to present to Frodo, not surprisingly played by the returning Elijah Wood. This prologue sequence begins 60 years before the events of The Lord Of The Rings with the story of how the Dwarf Thrór rose to be the King of Erebor, presiding over an age of wealth and happier times until the attack of Smaug the dragon, glimpsed only briefly in the sequence and never in full view. Envying the gold that the dwarves have built up, Smaug destroys the town of Dale and driving the dwarves out of Erebor, the end of the attack seeing Thrór’s grandson Thorin witness King Thranduil and his wood-elves leaving the scene of destruction rather than staying to aid them in their plight.
The film then proceeds into a lengthy opening segment, introducing not only Martin Freeman’s Bilbo but also Thorin and his band of Dwarves, intent on setting out for the Lonely Mountain to reclaim their gold from Smaug, as well as the re-introduction of Ian Mckellen’s Gandalf The Grey. The dwarve company is introduced as they descend on an unwitting Bilbo for a party at his homestead, with the intent of signing Bilbo up as their ‘thief’ for their quest, in a series of scenes with a number of comic touches and light in tone, until the reason for the party and the nature of their quest is revealed to Bilbo by Gandalf and the company leader Thorin. As a hobbit with a preference for a simple life of simple pleasures Bilbo initially rejects the chance to accompany the dwarves only to have a change of heart in the morning and embark alongside them on a quest that will change him forever, and lead to a discovery for far reaching consequences for the future of Middle Earth.
Not surprisingly, in many ways it is like Jackson has never left Middle Earth, with the sweeping camera moves in the opening sequence of Smaug’s attack on Dale and inside the Misty Mountains harking back to the fly through shots seen throughout The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. And as with the Rings trilogy there are several grand vista shots of the group as they make their way across wide plains of Middle Earth, one or two of which maybe lack a bit in the grandeur that was seen previously but are still fitting and give the film the scope it needs to have when dealing with the huge, varying landscape of Middle Earth. It is with those shots that the thought did occur during the film that it was a shame that Jackson has seen to go down the 3D route rather than utilise the IMAX cameras for the outdoor landscape scenes which really could have added an extra sense of scale and beauty to the location work. Whilst The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Lord Of The Rings are films that are some of the few that could work well as a 3D presentation it is hardly necessary and it is a pity that a system like IMAX, which could well be the future of cinema viewing, and the opportunity it presented for large scale scenes of Middle Earth was passed over.
One opportunity Jackson was determined not to miss out on, and as it turns out rightly so, is the casting of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Given the scope to create the character as his own interpretation thanks to the relatively tiny amount of screen time Ian Holm had as Bilbo’s older self in the Fellowship Of The Ring and the climax of Return Of The King, it is a role that is ideally suited to Freeman and it is hard to imagine anyone else playing the character. Free of the burdens and ever damaging effects of the One Ring that formed Frodo’s story, Freman gives Bilbo a more fussy personality, and one of a hobbit perfectly happy with the way things are and keeping things in a perfectly neat and tidy order. The obvious temptation is to look for echoes of his time as Tim in The Office and there are maybe comparisons to be made, but it would be wrong to pigeonhole him as that ‘Tim in Middle Earth’, and his is an engaging, twitchy presence worthy of building the film and indeed Hobbit trilogy around. Ian McKellen offers a reassuring presence in his return as Gandalf The Grey, and for the newcomers unsurprisingly Richard Armitage’s Thorin is given the most screen time and story development. Modelled as this trilogies “Aragorn” figure Armitage does well in creating a performance that while at times gruff and distant also hints at a strong and charismatic leader of the dwarf company with his own personal reasons for succeeding in the quest.
It is through mentioning the cast of characters in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that one problem with arises, it’s one that affects many films that feature a large ensemble cast, and that is that with so many dwarves on the quest only a select few actually stand out, leaving the others in the background and not really staying in the memory too much. Thorin aside, only James Nesbitt’s Bofur, the strongest believer in Bilbo in the group, and Ken Stott’s Balin, who offers the viewer a look into the past of the dwarves and Thorin in particular, really register, with the rest of the group merging together in the background somewhat. This could well turn around over the next two films of course and it is a hard issue to tackle, whilst the individual look of the dwarves does help with identifying them in a large group shot or some of the fight scenes it can be easy to lose track of which dwarf is which and what personality and story is theirs. Sylvester McCoy’s wizard Radagast is a character which has the potential to divide audiences somewhat due to his more offbeat nature but it is worth noting that we are thankfully not talking about a Jar Jar Binks style character flattening the movie around him.
There have been some quibbles over the CGI in the film, in the ‘normal’ 24fps 2D version there was nothing that stood out as strikingly bad or awful, and some people seem to forget that the CGI and green screen effects weren’t always top notch in the previous trilogy, even in Return Of The King there is still scope for some better matting and effects in a few places so it is perhaps rather unfair to expect perfection this time round. In terms of the look and detail put into the film again there is much to admire with longtime Tolkien illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe returning once more to the production, helping to create and further the world seen in The Lord Of The Rings and giving a comforting air of familiarity to the film, from the expanded views around Rivendell to the more earthy and grimy surroundings inside the Misty Mountains. Again, the 48fps controversy rears it’s head with some early reviews indicating that the higher frame rate takes away from enjoying watching the film, with some scenery too fake, others too real and some special effects and make up being all too noticeable – again, in the 2D 24fps version I saw this wasn’t an issue of any sort.
On other striking note on the film is, despite the talk throughout the film’s pre-production and production about how The Hobbit was much more of a children’s book compared to Lord Of The Rings this film adaptation is certainly not a kids film. The tone, though infused with some comedy, is strikingly close to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy in tone, especially in the battle scenes which are every bit as fierce as those seen throughout that trilogy with Jackson certainly not afraid to show a few beheadings for example. Again, not having read the book I can’t say whether it’s a huge divergence from the source material or what people were expecting but it does follow the tone of the existing films and certainly isn’t an unwelcome sidestep like The Phantom Menace was for example.
There will be some people who will find that the opening 45 minutes or so of the film feels like an unnecessarily overlong and plodding introduction to the film, however it is worth noting that there is a lot to try and introduce audiences too, particularly in terms of the dwarf company and their mission as well as to firmly introduce Bilbo and where he is at the start of his journey. Perhaps a scene or two, particularly the plate cleaning scene, complete with song, could be lost without impacting too much on the film that follows but beyond that it would be tricky to try and cut the opening down further without losing more sense of the dwarves individual quest or any scene that help establish Bilbo himself. Once the film gets past the opening, like the Fellowship Of The Rings it swiftly picks up pace and never once again slows for the rest of the duration, ultimately the most memorable scene features the return of Andy Serkis’ Gollum, in a sequence that is also pivotal to the future Lord Of The Rings storyline, and pits the comedic and deadly sides of Gollum against the nervous but quick witted Bilbo in a game of riddles well known to Tolkien lovers.
Ultimately The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey doesn’t quite match up to any of the three Lord Of The Rings films, but at the same time those films set a high bar for fantasy films in the first place, so to say The Hobbit isn’t quite up there with them is far from saying it’s failure or a bad film. After a slow start, and 48fps controversy aside, it’s a welcome and enjoyable return to Middle Earth and in it’s best moments promises much for the second and third parts of the story to come, with several very watchable, likeable leads particularly Martin Freeman as Bilbo. The concern still exists that Jackson and his team may be stretching things too thinly to produce two more satisfying Hobbit films but on the showing of this first part there is enough for fans of the series to look forward to another visit or two to Middle Earth over the next 18 months.
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