The First HOBBIT Film is...Alright, I Guess...

Rating: 8/10 (13 July 2013)

Ugh, there is just so much about Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth that I wish had gone better. My expectations were high for the first HOBBIT movie, but I did my best to keep them in check. The original LORD OF THE RINGS films were just fantastic and rank high amongst my all-time favorite film series. I knew the new film would have a hard time living up to the quality of the originals, but I'd assumed it would come close. I mean, it is Peter Jacksonthe original man who brought Middle Earth to the big screen more than successfully three times already. I was mostly right, but THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY has some problems that just can't see past. For those unfamiliar with the J.R.R. Tolkien novel, it follows the adventure of Bilbo Baggins (now Martin Freeman) as he finds his life turned upside down at the arrival of Gandalf (Ian McKellen, returning) to his home in Bag End. Gandalf requests that the hobbit join him on quest across distant lands with a band of dwarfs to reclaim their home in the Lonely Mountain. The band of thirteen dwarfs, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), were long ago driven from their mighty kingdom by the dragon Smaug. The time has arrived when Thorin will lead his band, with the aid of Gandalf, back to the mountain to reclaim their land and riches. Bilbo has been elected as their burglar, as a dragon-infested mountain might require a bit of stealth. But Bilbo might be in over his head...
I'll start by admitting that I did enjoy AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY. Mostly. It doesn't quite come near the level of its predecessors but all of the ingredients are there. This is obviously a Peter Jackson film, as the scope is immense. The New Zealand landscapes remain a perfect stand-in for the various aspects of Middle Earth, and each scene is just as gorgeous as you'd expect from a movie in this series. I'm not surprised the movie was nominated for as many production design, costuming, and art design awards as it was. This is one element of the series that hasn't diminished, as AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY is gorgeous. I was also immensely happy with the casting of the film. We have a handful of returning cast who fall right back into their roles as if they'd never left: McKellen (Gandalf), Christopher Lee (Saruman), Hugo Weaving (Elrond), Cate Blanchett (Galadriel), and of course Andy Serkis (Gollum) with brief cameos from Ian Holm and Elijah Wood to set up the context of the tale. From there we have a series of new arrivals, primarily our band of dwarfs. Richard Armitage is strong as Thorin but lacks any of the humility Viggo Mortensen brought to the character of Aragorn in the original trilogy. Thorin is stern and callous throughout the film, scarcely cracking a good-natured smile the entire time. I get that he's supposed to be our angst- riddled hero, but grumbling and snarling (especially as often as he does Bilbo, the most personable of the crew) doesn't open him to much sympathy from us. Of the remaining dozen dwarfs, less than a handful are given a chance to develop any personality. Those that do are a cool bunch though. Ken Stott (Balin), Graham McTavish (Dwalin), and especially James Nesbitt (Bofur) get some moments to shine and stand out, but the remaining eight or so dwarfs are practically interchangeable if it weren't for identifying physical traits (e.g. the obese Bombur or the hearing-impaired Óin). I'm hoping we get more from each of them in the next two films.
My issue with the film is that it never should have been dragged out to three films. Tolkien's novel was only around 300 pages and Jackson is insane to try and create a new trilogy out of it. I hadn't read the novel when I first saw the movie in theaters and, even then, I could see the movie was loaded with filler. I read the novel afterwards and discovered just how much of the movie was extra material put in to fill out the nearly 2.5 running time. A 300 page novel spread out over what will undoubtedly be three 2.5 hour moviesthat is just crazy. And if a fan uninitiated to the novel (me) could tell that the movie was padded, then you know it wasn't done well enough. I believe the whole movie could've done without the Azog the Defiler subplot. I can see why it was done (to give the movie an antagonist in the absence of Smaug, who won't even make a full appearance until the second film) but it felt shoe-horned in. Azog the Defiler is a pale orc with a vendetta against Thorin's lineage with no given reason. He just doesn't care for them and he's made it his mission to rid the land of them. So he hunts Thorin over the course of the movie and pads the run-time. I might have accepted it easier if the CG effects used for Azog weren't so bad. Ten years ago, Azog would've been done with practical makeup effects and he would've looked good. Now he's a cartoon.
Speaking of cartoons, I was also put-off by the goofiness of both Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy) and the Goblin King. I know the HOBBIT movies are technically based off a children's novel, but the violence and darker content of the movie don't exactly feel like one. But then you have a goofball like Radagast riding a rabbit sled and making stupid faces, or the Goblin King (another CG abomination) and his grand-standing. You can take the HOBBIT one of two ways: a light-hearted children-friendly adventure or a serious epic. I would've been happy with either, but this bizarre blend just doesn't gel with me. In the end, AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY is mostly fun but it's definitely no LORD OF THE RINGS.