THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (2012)

In 2001 when Peter Jackson first released The Fellowship of the Ring, I was a geeky eight year old kid who spent way too much time engrossed in films and comics. As Tolkien's books continued to be adapted into cinematic form, my fascination with the mythology surrounding Tolkien's Middle Earth progressed. Eleven years later, Jackson has just released the latest in his exploration of the world of Hobbits, Elves and Dwarves. As always when something from one's childhood is revisited, it is expected that you will feel both excitement and trepidation but predominantly an overwhelming sense of anticipation. It's not really fair to try to consider The Hobbit in relation to my adolescent adoration of The Lord of the Rings but nevertheless; I tried my best to remain unbiased. Ultimately, I found the film very enjoyable although, my inner fan couldn't help but feel there were some flaws that could have been avoided.

The film is strikingly beautiful with aerial shots of New Zealand's impeccable, other-worldly, mountainous terrain. Visually, The Hobbit successfully imitates the aesthetic created by Jackson in the original trilogy therefore adding a sense of consistency to the fictional Universe. Part of this could be attributed to the movie's score which seemed to borrow songs from the earlier instalments; as a viewer trying to distance myself from the earlier films, these similarities proved difficult to overcome. At times it appeared that the film was shot in the exact same location as The Fellowship of the Ring which, although feeling like an enjoyable intertextual reference, also felt like cheating in some respects. Rather than exploring a new journey, it felt Bilbo was simply revisiting previously exhibited areas.

Having read the book, I was aware that the tone of The Hobbit would be an issue.Tolkien's novel is distinctively written for a young audience however, Jackson's film feels as through it struggles to try to force an adult aspect into the narrative. The childish sections such as the arrival of the dwarves feels painfully slapstick at times while the ominous foreboding of the Necromancer is considerably more adult. In some ways, this is reminiscent of Frodo's initial warnings regarding Sauron's precious jewellery. It feels as though Jackson really tried to honour the source material while opening up the demographic however, for me this was all a bit too contrived. The advertising material is a paradigmatic example of this juxtaposition. One of the posters used features all of the dwarves squeezed into one frame with one's beard smothered in cake. This suggests that the film isn't aimed at anybody older than fifteen. The second poster simply displays Bilbo sternly glaring towards the viewer while brandishing his Orc-slaying sword, Sting. Bilbo's poster suggests that the action-adventure aspect is the most important genre whereas the dwarves' image focusses on comedy. This comedy aspect was never really required when promoting the Lord of the Rings. The humour felt natural and was predominantly through dialogue like the amusing relationship between Legolas and Gimli.

The biggest grievance I had regarding The Hobbit was the use of computer generated imagery in the creation of the Orcs. In the previous three films, the actors were predominantly transformed into Orcs through use of prosthetic make up which seemed to provide a sort of grounding in reality as these were real people. In An Unexpected Journey, there was a heavy reliance upon technology evident in the formation of the Orcs. For me, this was disappointing as, although it was probably cheaper for the Studio and preferable to the actors, it provided a further sense of distance from the mythical world. I understand that this issue has separated film fans. When I was at work, I tried explaining this to a group of young children but they felt that the CGI merely enhanced the life-like nature of Middle Earth. Perhaps the children would rather the film be distanced from their everyday lives while I think that one of the most important factors in a Fantasy film is a subtle grounding in reality. 

Despite these minor grumblings of mine, I did genuinely really enjoy the film. From the outset, I found the film engrossing with the wonderful scenes of the Dwarf Kingdom, Erebor, in all of it's glory. Although this was not likely to be how Tolkien would have intended the film to begin, it was still enthralling. I can't help but marvel at how advanced technology has become so that we can create these mythical worlds out of nothing but tiny computers. Without such devices, we wouldn't have been able to create anything close to the wonderful Gollum either who Andy Serkis once again portrays incredibly. The Gollum of this trilogy is still in sole possession of the ring and therefore it's interesting to see the character in a more controlled situation rather than the creature consumed by jealousy we have became accustomed to. It provides the character with a little more depth and allows us to try to sympathise with him a little more. The interaction between Serkis and Freeman's Bilbo is not to be missed, their riddles prove amusing for both one another and the audience.

I left the cinema eagerly awaiting the next instalment, The Desolation of Smaug, which is to be released in December of 2013. Perhaps it was the lack of intense action in the film that displeased me. The scenes with the Trolls and Wargs were far from the adrenaline-pumping battles of The Lord of the Rings. This is likely to be resolved by the next two features as the title even suggests that there will be a greater emphasis on the action sequences. My discontent may have also been partly attributed to my attendance to a late showing. As I work in the cinema, I'm allowed to attend technical screenings of films, often played the night before the official release. This meant that the film did not begin until around midnight and therefore did not finish until around 3 in the morning after which I had to drive back home. I fully intend to see An Unexpected Journey again, preferrably at an earlier time, in order to truly appreciate this revisit to Middle Earth.