Immensely enjoyable

Rating: Null/10 (24 December 2012)

I don't understand the critics' reaction to this film. Well, I can accept some of their criticism, but I still feel that they're judging this film far too harshly. Perhaps it's the hype that quite frankly got blown out of proportions, or perhaps they reacted negatively to the decision to separate a simple children's story into three films, or perhaps they just expected another epic on par with The Lord of the Rings saga.
And I cannot claim I wasn't equally as cautious, having seen the trailers, knowing the book and realizing that they would have to add a lot of padding. So I was prepared to be disappointed. Luckily, my fears were ill-founded and what I received was an adventure I haven't experienced since the original LotR films. A sentence written by a fellow fan sums up my feelings perfectly: "It felt like coming home after a long journey." Exactly. And yes, I realize that as a major Tolkien fan my viewpoint is heavily biased, but that's what this film does to you. It has its flaws, but I just cannot bring myself to care. It's Middle-earth.
But don't get me wrong, it's not good just because it's Middle-earth. It's a genuinely great film on its own. And this wasn't an easy story to adapt into a film, especially when you want to make it a prequel to the LotR films. Because the original book in all honestly doesn't work as a prequel to the LotR books all that well. It's just a merry little children's adventure with humour and high adventure. Some of its events work as a backstory to LotR, but sometimes it feels like it's not even set in the same universe, the tone is so different. So adaptation was always going to cause controversy, because there isn't a good compromise to be had. Personally I think that Jackson strikes a good balance here. The film is a lot more humorous than the LotR films, but at the same time there are hints of events yet to come and you can pinpoint the certain events that would eventually lead to the War of the Rings and the downfall of Sauron. These scenes tie the film to the greater story and even though the constant shifts in tone might bother someone, I think that Jackson manages to balance the two aspects rather well.
What I think Jackson got exactly right are the characters. The returning characters still feel the same, and in some cases even better. Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Gollum (Andy Serkis) had improved the most and the scene where Bilbo (Martin Freeman) and Gollum meet is easily the best one in the film. The mood, the atmosphere, the dialogue, the slowly building tension, it's absolutely haunting in quality. And luckily the new characters don't disappoint either. Martin Freeman outshines the rest with a performance that absolutely nails the character of Bilbo Baggins, but the dwarfs aren't bad either. Thorin Richard Armitage) gets the most screen time as he by all means should, which unfortunately though doesn't leave too much time for the rest of them. The same problem exists in the book, so it's not completely Jackson's fault. There simple are too many dwarfs to give them all enough screen time to develop their personalities properly. Jackson tries his best though and I think that he succeeds admirably, given the circumstances. Most of the dwarfs look different enough and all of them have at least one quirk that makes them stand out from the rest. You still can't tell which one was Nori and which one Ori by the end of the film, but you at least have an inclination about most of them. It's not much, but it's something.
Nevertheless, the characters do work. The other thing that I liked is the score, because well, it's Howard Shore, and even if we discount that I still find myself humming the main theme under my breath, and its been almost two weeks. I also quite liked the action, which once again reflected the more humorous tone of the film. It was flashy, fast-paced and filled with a lot of creativity. Sure some might claim that it was more silly than anything, but I think that it fitted and at least it was enjoyable to watch, especially from a big screen. And of course the visuals are still some of the best the industry has to offer. The sweeping landscapes of New Zealand looked good back then and they still do. The monsters and various caves and buildings are equally awe-inspiring and a lot of time has been spent on the details.
Then the grievances and the nitpicking. The biggest complain that I have against this film is the voice acting. The orcs and goblins in LotR films sounded great with lots of growling and screeching, with sharp gutturals. And the orcs in The Hobbit still sound like that, but the trolls and especially the goblins are just unbelievably bad. A humongous goblin king should not sound like an educated middle-aged British merchant. It completely ruins the effect. But if that's the worst I can say about this film, well... it's a nitpick if even that. There were some other minor points that I would have personally changes, mostly dealing with changes to the story, but nothing major or anything that could have potentially ruined the film.
As a whole it's a very strong film. The tone is a bit of a problem and it has too many characters, but what it gets right, it gets absolutely right. It's Jackson's Middle-earth and I like it very, very much. Is it as good as the LotR films? Not quite, but it isn't far away. I saw it once and I walked back in the next day with a smile on my face. That's about the biggest compliment I can pay to a film and this film more than deserved it.