Why "an Unexpected Journey" missed the point.

Rating: 4/10 (28 December 2012)

The main problem with The Hobbit, as far as I can see it, is that it strays so ridiculously far from the original. Now, I'm not one of those nerdy puritans who thinks that the book The Hobbit resembles something sacrosanct like the Koran or the Bible, but the point is that the book holds a lot of beauty, intelligence and intrigue - the point is that Jackson and crew have completely missed the point.
It's clear from the outset that Jackson/Hollywood/whoever wanted to string what is in reality a simple tale into a three-part money-spinner. Okay. If they'd kept more closely to the original and added extra adventures in-between it may have served. But instead they've brushed over the entire meat of the story and twisted it until it resembles only in bones the original, and I think that's a shame, because the opportunity was there to bring the beauty of the book to life.
Let us take, for example, the beginning, when the dwarfs arrive at Bag End believing that Bilbo is a burglar. In the book it is his inability to be impolite, followed by his desire to live up to good things that others have said about him that drives him to continue the charade of being a burglar - and the dwarfs DO believe he is a burglar for the entire journey. This is integral to the story, yet in the Hollywood version, Bilbo has a Hollywood style tantrum that the dwarfs magically ignore, the whole script comes back to "I'M NOT A BURGLAR! I'M NOT A BURGLAR! I'M NOT A BURGLAR!" repeatedly, into the bargain they've written in an enmity between Thorin and Bilbo that doesn't exist, and Bilbo at some point in the film tries to slink off (going entirely against his faithful nature which is core to the reason Gandalf selects him) - all of these ill-thought out gaffs and many more we don't have time to go into serve to lose the identity of Bilbo and flatten the story into two-dimensions.
For a film they've labelled "An Unexpected Journey" they sure brushed over the journey aspect of it. Maybe the idea that the weather was bad and they run out of food quite early on doesn't seem like box-office gold to the makers, but maybe also they underestimate the general public and like I've said before, something more beautiful and timeless could have been made from this story. Instead they've invented aggressive bad-guys to pursue and turned every episode of the adventure into a battle, again missing the point, as it is Bilbo who, despite being timid and unsure of himself, does the right and clever thing and saves them each time. Again, it is a Hollywood preoccupation with violence that ruins what could have been a classic movie.
As to the battle scenes, they're not even well done. We have a modern state where we can produce on computer almost any image, and the culture is to try and make films visually more and more extreme. But 50 giant wargs charging violently and super-fast at 13 dwarfs and a hobbit looks absolutely ridiculous when not a single member of the troupe is harmed. This over-playing of CGI battles occurs again and again, and completely destroys any feelings of suspense we may have had during the battle. If, for example, they'd kept to the original story in the Goblin caves and the battle had been confined to completely dark tunnels, lit only by the eerie light of the swords Orcrist and Glamdring, with the horde of Goblins pursuing heavily but fearing the swords, that would have made for great suspense. As it is the troupe take on, unconvincingly, hundreds and hundreds of goblins in a basically open space. This OTT CGI completely guts the film of any drama, with the gang on several occasions falling far further than it would be possible to survive (without a scratch), being under horrendous rockfalls with no adverse effects etc etc. The makers of this film really need to go back to film-school and learn about basic techniques pertaining to the suspension of disbelief.
I could go on, about how the malevolence of the goblins is completely brushed over for example: the Great Goblin has more of an air of the late, great Sir Patrick Moore than an evil creature, but I'll leave my gripes now by stating that the errors integral to the story are manifold, and - quelle surprise - the motivations of the production company have pretty much ruined the story.
If I have harped on about the errors I have to say that the movie is not all bad, it has some humour, and its triumph is that it plays everything for laughs. Of course, the vast majority of movie-goers have never read the book, and don't care a whit about seeing a timeless classic on screen (in latter years they've had no opportunity, being content with largely trash). For these people I suppose the movie should be highly enjoyable, and for this reason I guess it is ranked so highly on IMDb.
Beyond that the scene with Gollum is great. Here they have taken the original story and brought it visually to life. If only they could have done the same with the rest of the movie. 4 out of 10 for all the visuals and humour that money can buy.