The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

First things first, I have to apologize for not writing a post in way too long. I have no excuses I am just a loser. Please forgive me?


I think I speak for every Lord of the Rings fan when I say that the marriage of Peter Jackson's filmmaking and J.R.R Tolkein's stories is not something I thought I would witness again in my lifetime. So when I heard he was making The Hobbit, it was like a thousand Christmases squidged into a paradisaical film-formed present. I prayed it wasn't too good to be true.

And I am as jubliant as Father Christmas on crack, riding a roller coaster into a ball pool of chocolate, to announce that Jackson, as ever, does not disappoint.

Of course what we're all here for is that Middle Earthen feel. There is an utter escapism which the franchise encapsulates to an extent other films have not been able to even scratch the surface of. I consider the Shire my second home. Also like LOTR, this is a walking tourism advertisement for Kiwi-land. There are sumptuous sweeping heli-shots of snow dusted mountains, Elven valleys, rugged cliff peaks, rolling hills, snow dusted mountains... yeah you've seen Fellowship of the Ring.




The soundtrack plays a lot on the nostalgic hobbit theme, as well as other familiar LOTR hits and its own original music. Character wise, they've also chucked in a jumble of your old favourites, including good old Saruman (two laughs a minute, as ever), a less severe Elrond, the enigmatic has-she-been-on-the-pipeweed Galadriel, and of course Gandalf, who seems to get involved in the midst of everything, like, all the time.

Oh yeah and this beautiful geezer may have a role to play.

Additionally, The Hobbit has a new feel to it. Jackson was adamant this was not just a prequel to LOTR but a story in its own right, and this one does have its own distinctive feel to it. We're not about Mordor here, no one cares about Gondor or the return of the I'd-rather-be-a-hobo King, it's all about the Lonely Mountain guys. Basically, the dwarfs, led by Richard Armitage's bewilderingly attractive Thorin, used to live there until they were kicked out by a cranky dragon called Smaug, and now they want it back. Somehow Gandalf ropes a reluctant youthful Bilbo Baggins into joining in on the quest.

Here dwarfkind gets more of a look in in the narrative, with the gang of dwarfs providing energy and amusement aplenty. From the moment Bilbo sets his hirsute foot out of his front door, there is non stop action and suspense. There are encounters with trolls, to entrapment in goblin's layers, to riddle games with sociopathic Gollum, to battles with wargs and fat white, handless orcs. To be crass, you really get bang for your buck here, which is what I particularly liked about this film as oppose to the first LOTR, which is (despite, and not detracting from, its masterpiece) a little slow paced at points. This is a different, less atmospheric, but more of a guns-blazing, bustling, vivacious action-sandwich.

Does anyone else get what I mean by the peculiar allure of Thorin?

If I had to pick between the two, life or death style, I'd still go with Lord of the Rings. It is the more epic story, through no fault of the The Hobbit (blame J.R.). Nonetheless, a feast for the eyes and imagination, The Hobbit is pretty damn swish.