Rating = 3/5 Stars
Speak to any “Lord of the Rings” fan about the Shire and chances are you’ll catch a universal expression: a small, upturned smile, a wistful glaze in the eye, and a fondness in the voice as it speaks almost reminiscently of Hobbit holes and of rolling green dales. It’s this very sense of familiarity Peter Jackson appeals to in the opening shot of “The Hobbit”, and by the time the aging Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) says “My dear Frodo” a few seconds later, it’s almost easy to forget that “The Fellowship of the Ring” was released in theatres almost 12 years ago. There is a certain comfort in that home-coming feeling – and also a certain danger. The biggest pitfall of any comfort zone – particularly a profitable one – is an unwillingness or inability to break free of it.
“The Hobbit” is the prequel to “The Lord of the Rings”, the tale bequeathed to a young Frodo Baggins by his uncle, Bilbo, which establishes many of the themes and characters in the latter stories. In this early adventure, youthful Bilbo (Martin Freeman) is persuaded to forfeit the coziness of home to join Gandalf (Ian McKellen) in a trek across Middle Earth, along with a motley crew of disenfranchised Dwarves, led by the heir to the Dwarfish throne, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). Their goal is simple: reclaim the Dwarves’ lost gold-laden kingdom in the Lonely Mountain from an ancient and powerful dragon named Smaug, who had violently ousted them generations before. As with any simple plan, it becomes defined by complications. If they are not being spit-roasted by mountain trolls, they are being chased by orcs on wolfback or captured by hordes of impish goblins.
No one can fault Peter Jackson for his remarkable knack of bringing his imagination to bear on the big screen. In this, he affords himself not only the typical attention to various cinematic perfections, but because he has the luxury of fitting one book into three films instead of three books into three films like LOTR, he indulges in a host of drawn out scenes and lengthy action sequences. Paradoxically, and disappointingly, little of the surplus is devoted to deeper story elements like character development. What few meaningful exchanges there are end so quickly I couldn’t fully appreciate them, or they felt a little forced. “True courage is not about knowing when to take a life, but when to spare one,” Gandalf says to Bilbo as the Shire theme begins swelling in the background. It was a moment I’d seen before. In “Fellowship” Gandalf says to quietly to Frodo (as the Shire theme plays), “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.” Gandalf’s wise one-liners are only effective when they aren’t contrived. Several moments in “The Hobbit” seemed recycled, and the déjà vu effect was, at times, distracting.
But the greatest distraction stemmed from the supposed cinematic enhancements: 3D and high frame rate (HFR). In the best of cases, 3D almost never adds anything meaningful to a story. “The Hobbit” was no exception, and by the time the credits began rolling 169 minutes later, I thought the bridge of my nose would have a permanent indentation from the glasses. The HFR gave the film an inferior, staged quality to the essence of it; it was like watching a much older movie. At the same time, it enhanced the CGI effects, imbuing many of the more colorful characters with a vivid, almost “Avatar”-like realism.
“The Hobbit” checks many boxes and succeeds where other trilogy prequels fall woefully short (“Star Wars”), but like Freeman’s quirky yet stoical portrayal of Bilbo Baggins, the production, which rests
comfortably in the mechanics and established modes of LOTR, lacks the wide-eyed wonderment and sensitive nuances which made Frodo’s travails through the labyrinth and shadows of Middle Earth so compelling. At the risk of sounding blasphemous, I couldn’t help but wonder what del Toro might have done to help “The Hobbit” gain a bit of needed independence.
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For More Information Visit:
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http://www.movieweb.com/movie/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey
http://www.thehobbitblog.com
http://www.thehobbit.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624
