Hurray! The world didn’t
end! To celebrate, last night we went to
see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
I wasn’t expecting to like it much. I saw some clips previously that looked
heavily epic, if you’ll excuse the term.
After three years of Lord of the Rings (which I loved), I’m a little
tired of epic. Especially as I now can’t
watch Lord of the Rings on my home television.
It belongs on the big screen, which slightly ruins it. So I went to see The Hobbit tentatively.
Before I first saw The Fellowship of the
Ring, I didn’t really know a lot about fantasy.
I was suffering from writers block and then I was introduced to Middle
Earth. I remember especially the moment
that Gandalf lit his staff to reveal the insides of the Mines of Moria. My usually noisy mind (dissecting dialogue,
commenting on direction, telling me what’s going to happen next) was made
utterly speechless. That silence in my
head had never happened before, nor has it happened since.
The Hobbit was a fun and wonderful reminder of why I love
fantasy so very much. A reluctant, young
Bilbo Baggins is dragged into a quest by wizard Gandalf the Grey to help twelve dwarves reclaim the lost dwarven kingdom of Erebor in The Lonely Mountain from
the dragon Smaug.
It’s a traditional fantasy – dwarves and dragons. Now, I feel I must be honest. I have not read the book (yet), so please
bear this in mind when you read the following.
As with the Lord of the Ring films, The Hobbit is
visually a masterpiece. The scenery is definitely
epic and the CGI is brilliant. The
detail of the characters is amazing, although some development is lacking in
places. The Hobbit, unlike Lord of the
Rings, is a children’s fantasy and as such contains warm humour and bright
colours. It is fast paced throughout
most of the film and during the rare slow moments you can rely on a fast paced
action sequence being just round the corner.
As I mentioned, character development was lacking in
places. This is probably due to the
number of dwarves present rather than poor writing. Thirteen dwarves means that it’s difficult to
know each and every one, even in such a long film. Especially when there is also a hobbit, Gollum, three wizards, a Lady and Lord of elves, three trolls, an goblin king and
an orc villain...
A selection of dwarves stand out; - Thorin (Richard Armitage), king of the dwarves,
- Balin (Ken Stott), Thorin’s advisor and friend,
- Bofur (James Nesbitt), a comic and outspoken dwarf who seems to be the first to develop any kind of affection towards Bilbo,
- Dwalin (Graham McTavish), the warrior and possibly the biggest,
- Ori (Adam Brown), the youngest and
- Kili (Aidan Turner), yes Mitchell from Being Human!
I would hope that the characters of the dwarves will
develop further in the next two films, of course. In the meantime, not knowing all of the
dwarves well does not hinder an enjoyment of the film. Rather, in this film they give the impression
of what it means to be a dwarf – brave, merry, honourable, to enjoy good food and a good
fight, stubborn, kind and gentle.
 |
| Thorin Oakensheild |
Gandalf (Ian Mckellen) is a different wizard to one we
meet in The Fellowship of the Ring. He is
younger and a little naive. He allows
his fear to show and therefore his vulnerabilities. He is overall a more likeable wizard. Don’t get me wrong, I loved him in Lord of
the Rings, but I like him more in The
Hobbit.
Bilbo Baggins is played brilliantly by Martin
Freeman. The mannerisms that Ian Holm
introduced to Bilbo in the Lord of the Rings is carried through and fully
developed. Bilbo is a likeable but
reluctant hero. He doesn’t seem to
realise just how brave he is. He is a
kind hobbit but at the same time there is a pompous, selfishness there which is
probably the weakness that leads to him stealing the ring from Gollum. It is that same pompousness that keeps him with the dwarves even when they doubt them.
Yes, Gollum is there too of course. The 'riddles in the dark' scene between Gollum and Bilbo is
wonderful and the CGI of Gollum has improved (if possible). Gollum is already complete by this film but
it feels that a huge emphasis was put on his scenes, perhaps because he is such
a fan favourite.
My main issue with The Hobbit was the similarities with
the Lord of the Rings. Of course it must
feel familiar with the settings and music, as it is set in the same
place. As we first see Rivendell and the
beautiful music of the Rivendell elves picks up, I found myself smiling. Later as we cut to the dwarves marching
across the snowy mountain tops to that same music that followed the Fellowship,
my heart sank. I am tired of the epic
nature of the Lord of the Rings and perhaps these familiar scenes and music
stirred these memories within me. They
were short lived however, as the next scene drew us closer to the warm nature
of the dwarves.
The Hobbit has been accused of having scenes which are
too long. This is true in places. A lot of the scenes could easily have been
cut. To be honest, I only vaguely
noticed them. The film is mostly fast
paced and my mind only wandered a few times during the more lengthy
scenes. The most boring scene was one in
Rivendell as Gandalf, Saruman, Elrond and Galadriel discuss a new darkness looming. While it was interesting to see Galadriel’s
relationship with Gandalf and a non-evil (perhaps?) Saruman, I just wasn’t
interested. I wanted
to be back with Bilbo and the dwarves, on their journey to reclaim their
home. However I’m sure that this dull
scene will play its part in the following two films.
Speaking of Galadriel, where are the strong female
characters in the travelling group? I
know that Tolkien could write them.
Galadriel, Arwen and Eowyn are proof of this, yet there were no females
in the Fellowship and there are no females in the travelling group in The
Hobbit. Ok, so it’s supposed to
represent male comradeship but what’s wrong with a female dwarf helping to
reclaim her home?
I thoroughly enjoyed The
Hobbit. I sat down in the cinema telling
myself it was ok if I didn’t enjoy it and that I wouldn’t force myself to see
the next two films. Now I can’t wait to
see the next one. By the last scene I
was hungry for more.
Last week I tried hard not to listen to a man at work
telling a colleague about the film. I
was fearful of spoilers but needn’t of worried.
However, he did say that he just couldn’t get on with a film that had
giant eagles in it. Last night, as the
giant eagles came into view, I was reminded of this and thought to myself,
what? I don’t understand. I honestly don’t understand how anyone could
not like this film, never mind the giant eagles.
 |
| Radagast the Brown |
Yet, I am the only person I know who has loved this
film. Maybe it’s just me. Maybe this is a bad, boring and long film. I was carried away by the premise, by the new
characters in a familiar setting, by the connections between The Hobbit and the
Fellowship of the Ring, by the simple and wonderful story concept, by the warmth and comradery of the dwarves.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, in the
Fellowship of the Ring my mind was rendered speechless by the sight of the
mines of Moria. Something similar
happened at the very last scene in The Hobbit.
I won’t tell you what the scene was but suddenly my mind fell silent. And then it uttered three words to me;
Oh. My.
God.
I should leave it there but I want to mention one more
thing. As a writer, when faced with a
good film, my overactive mind begins to create a new character. Who would I be in this film? What would I be, who would I be and what
would her story be?
I had these thoughts during Lord of the Rings and I had
them during The Hobbit. What a conflict,
surely I cannot be in both. Which would
I prefer? Oh, that’s easy. Definately a female warrior dwarf to a Lady
of Rohan.
Which would you prefer to be in?
Merry Christmas everyone!
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