The Hobbit Hobbles Along

Rating: 6/10 (28 October 2013)

I don't consider myself a huge fan of the L.O.T.R trilogy but I have read and enjoyed the Tolkien books including the Hobbit so I looked forward to seeing it. I was thinking that it will be a faster paced and shorter film given the fact that the book that it is based on is itself about three times shorter than the Lord of the Ring Books. But no such luck.
The premise of the movie is that a group of dwarfs wants to get back their city and their gold from a dragon called Smaug. To do this they will need help from a Wizard called Gandalf and a thief. For the thief they choose a hobbit called Bilbo who has no experience in thievery, robbing, breaking and entering or picking pockets. In other words they choose what seems like the worst possible candidate because apparently the dragon is not used to the smell of hobbits and will therefore not react to Bilbo. What will happen if the dragon chooses to use his eyes and see someone breaking into his lair is not really explained. Whilst on their quest they will be pursued by orcs led by a pale orc who seeks revenge against the dwarf prince who cut his hand off in battle years ago. Convenient timing.
An Unexpected Journey starts of slowly and keeps on going forever with some likable characters and some not so likable ones as well. There are moments and scenes in the movie which seem to have no purpose than to fill screen time so that this first installment can reach the 3 hour mark. There are also scenes which have hardly any relevance to the story overall like singing and dish throwing dwarfs in the beginning. Later on in the film there is a scene where rock giants hurl rocks at each other for no reason whilst the main protagonists are passing by. Also there are too many clichés in the movie (as in the hobbit who is reluctant and is doubted by all but becomes a heroic and noble figure by the end). And this all combined does not make it a great film.
The first 45 minutes or so seem relatively pointless and drawn out. I understand that there is a need to get characters introduced to the audience and get the audience interested but 45 minutes is stretching it. If any other movie had a 45 minute opening most people would probably stop watching it. The young Bilbo (Played by Martin Freeman) goes from being adamant that he is not going on any adventure to literally changing his mind after one night's sleep. I guess the idea of facing a dragon makes more sense in the morning. Or maybe it's the fact that the dwarfs cleaned out his pantry so he decides he will join them and eat their food for a change.
Having finally started on their adventure the group of protagonists keeps on being attacked and pestered by trolls, orcs and goblins. Luckily for them none of the trolls, orcs or goblins can aim at all with any sort of weapon. But let's face it even if they had machineguns and artillery together with air support they would still miss almost everything and everyone they aim for. Unless they are shown in flashbacks in which they seem very effective and deadly.
So what we have in the movie so far are incompetent orcs and goblins with a reluctant hobbit and some mysterious elves thrown in half way through the movie (again for no real reason, but the screen time had to be filled). Having visited the elves (who do almost nothing but translate some runes) the group slips away unnoticed and the dwarfs get captured by the goblins and of course escape with relative ease and some help from Gandalf.
Of course there are more battle scenes with no point since no one even gets a scratch (other than the villains who seem to be slaughtered wholesale, so be warned if you are a goblin as this movie is biased against you). Whilst the dwarfs are battling the goblins, Bilbo finds the Ring of Power, and outsmarts Gollum in a riddle asking competition, rejoins his comrades and then saves the Dwarf Prince from the Pale Orc. They conveniently get carried away by giant eagles and the last phrase uttered by Bilbo in this movie is something like "I think that the worst is behind us." Yeah right... Why Gandalf couldn't have called the eagles to carry them from the shire to their destination is also a mystery. Probably because then the movie would have been 10 minutes long or so.
There are some positive aspects of the movie. The scenery is great. The acting is more than decent and after all the movie is fantasy so I didn't expect too much realism. Overall however this movie could have been so much better if it was an hour shorter with a better developed story. I am not saying that the story itself is bad as the book is a very entertaining one, but the script writers definitely didn't carry that through to the screen. So I give it a 5.5 out of 10 because even though the good parts are well done they get overshadowed by the sluggish pace and irrelevant scenes that are nothing but padding. So I suggest reading the book instead. It will take less time at least.