Peter Jackson takes us back to the valleys and burrows of Middle Earth with The Hobbit an Unexpected Journey, part one of a trilogy. The events of movie takes place about half a century before the events of The Lord of The Rings. This time we are back at the Shire with good old Gandalf the Gray who recruits Bilbo Baggins to accompany a band of 13 dwarves on their way to reclaim their lost home and treasure taken over by Smaug the Dragon.
The Hobbit though a great movie on its own has the
misfortune of having Lord of the Rings as its big brother. Much like Faramir if you must. He is a great
fighter who wins several battles for Gondor, yet his father prefers Boromir
over him. No matter what he does and how hard he tries he will always be
compared to his older brother, and somehow fall short simply because Boromir
came first and was so damn amazing. So
the question on everyone mind is that “is it as good as The Lord of The Rings?”
and the answer simply is no. That’s simply because the source material doesn't compare
to the Lord of The Rings. Lord of The
Rings is a dark epic adventure spanning 3 books while The Hobbit is based on a
single book that was written for children. So you simply can't expect the same
level of excitement and danger as you did from the original series even though Jackson
transforms this one into one murky and fierce saga.
So does that mean The Hobbit is a bad movie? Far from it, although the movie starts off a little slow but when it picks up it’s a roller-coaster ride that keeps you on the edge of your seat. I for one didn’t find a single moment of the movie boring, although there were scenes where I felt that the movie could have done without. The overall experience was that of pure excitement and satisfaction. I had very high expectations going into the movie and I have to say that Peter Jackson once again delivered a fulfilling movie going experience.
The acting in this movie was expectedly delightful:
Martin Freeman, as Bilbo was outstanding. I was fortunate enough to read the
book before watching the movie and I have to say that he has Bilbo down to a T.
Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis return as Gandalf and Gollum, and both do an
absolutely amazing job. The scene where Bilbo and Gollum riddle it out was
probably one of the best scenes in the movie both for enjoyable wit and
exceptional dialogue delivery. As for Gandalf he excels again as a wise and
dangerously skilled wizard who must both mentor and parent the Dwarves while
keeping an eye on the bigger picture. We were also treated with few other
characters from the original series Saruman, Galadriel, and Elrond played by
Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett,
Hugo Weaving all of who played their part well enough to bring back some
nostalgia. The score in the movie was uniquely folk lore-ish and oh so
befitting the landscapes of Middle Earth.
That’s not to say that the movie was without its
flaws; I found that the movie overdid its use of CGI. It gave the movie a cartoonish
feel to it. I remember in the original the orc,s goblins and uruks were actors and
it gave the characters a human touch. The movie is 169 minutes long that’s
almost 3 to 3 and half hours in the theater depending on when you go in. That’s
quite an endurance feat and if you’re not a fan of Lord of The Rings it could
feel like an eternity and very tedious indeed. I also felt that the movie
didn’t utilize all the dwarves, you have 13 dwarves and more than half are just
background characters. Although it must be pointed out that Ken Scott, Graham
McTavish, and Richard Armitage playing Balin, Dwalin and Thorin did an amazing
job playing their roles and complemented each other and Bilbo fairly well. Thorin is a
nice substitute for Aragorn, a total badass who is not just a great leader but
also an admirable warrior. I would like to see more from each dwarf in the coming
two movies.
In the end I’m going to highly recommend this movie.
It’s a must watch if you’re a Lord of The Rings fan, and if you haven’t seen
the movie or you didn’t like Lord of The Rings please don’t waste your time and
mine by complaining how boring the movie was. Lastly don’t go in expecting a
replica of the Lord of The Rings, this is a standalone movie and is
distinguishable both in its saga and viewer experience from the Lord of The
Rings.
And as always special thanks to Ammad Wajahat.
And as always special thanks to Ammad Wajahat.
