Masterful!

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2013)

There was always a certain "damned if you do, damned if you don't" dilemma to the filming of "The Hobbit" and I think Peter Jackson knew that going in, which may be why it took him so long to take on the project as director. "The Lord of the Rings" was famous for being unfilmable until Jackson did it and proved he could not only make a good adaptation of the material, he could actually turn it into one of the greatest commercial AND critical successes of all time. However, I think "The Hobbit" is a harder book to film, especially after the success of the Ring-triloy. It's essentially a children's story that Tolkien wrote mostly for his own kids and long before he had any idea himself how it all tied in with his vast mythology. Because of that, the book has a very light, childlike tone, and yet it still exists in the same universe as all the other, much grander and more dramatic tales of Middle-Earth.
How do you maintain the lighter touch and charming magic of "The Hobbit" while also making it a credible prequel to LOTR? How to you balance the jolly "let's go on an adventure" feel with something that works for contemporary cinema goers who desire to see some action and drama taking place? How do you make sure those 13 dwarfs don't become a homogenous blur of beards and hoods while still retaining respect for Tolkien's vision? How do you bring a sense of menace and danger into the film without sacrificing its humour? And so on... It's an incredibly difficult and fine line to walk. I think the writers took a gutsy decision by deciding to tell not just the story of Bilbo's adventure, but to tell it as a real prequel trilogy to LOTR. It is after all something Tolkien himself desired to do but never got round to.
With seemingly effortless joy, "An Unexpected Journey" manages to capture all the magic and heart of the book while also giving us an insight into the depth of the history of Middle-Earth and hinting to the coming darkness of Sauron AND on top of that, it's just a rollicking good action adventure that any 13 year-old should love. Jackson's adaptation does all that and manages to elegantly honour the human themes in Tolkien's work as well: Bilbo's "Tookish" side winning over his reserved "Baggins" side is a genuinely inspiring call to adventure for all of us. The compassion Bilbo grants Gollum is delivered poignantly and beautifully and sets something up that pays off years later in "The Return of the King". Thorin's pride and stubbornness are introduced, leading up to what is sure to become a baffling and powerful climax in the third installment of this trilogy. All of the dwarfs are given genuine personality. The acting is superb. Richard Armitage's Thorin in particular is a sublime performance, both threatening and noble at once, single-minded in his pursuits yet always concerned for the safety of his friends.
Howard Shore's score is both light-footed and fairy tale-like and suitably grand and epic where needed, all while tying into the established themes of his "Rings" scores with precision and dedication. The truth is, movies like this are rare and exceptional. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is both a first-class cinema adventure for all ages as well as one of the best and most challenging adaptations of a literary work ever put on film.