An Improvement on the Material

Rating: 9/10 (23 December 2012)

I know by having such a title for a review will probably earn me the hate of many people. I have always felt that J.R.R. Tolkien was a bit of a paradox. He had such wonderful and amazing ideas (even though the vast majority of these stories can be found in Beowulf) and such a dull talent for writing them. Of course, being that these novels are among the most loved and revered ever written, I know that this is simply my own take on them. I am happy that they work for so many others, but they never did with me. I always came away liking what Tolkien had to say, but never how he tried to say it.
The first thing I have noticed from many people reviewing "The Hobbit" is how it deviates from the book. I find this mostly surprising because the whole "Lord of the Rings" trilogy deviated from the book greatly and it is one of the most popular and well rated movies series ever. Frodo from the movie was nothing like Frodo from the book, where he was more of a middle aged, kind gentlemanly type than the teenager hobbit they made him in the movie. A whole 100 pages and a major character from the first book is dropped. My favorite deviation being that half of "The Two Towers" movie is based off a battle that took 20 pages to tell in the book.
In my opinion, Peter Jackson and company have taken the general idea of Tolkien's stories and told them in a way that I can relate to. This is why I enjoyed the first trilogy and why, it seems, I will enjoy the second one. I feel that the cartoon of "The Hobbit" was very true to the material and I recall that I have never watched a cartoon that was so dreadfully boring.
My only two issues with the first of these movies is that it seems a little forced when it starts out. For about fifteen minutes, I was seeing the actors and not the characters. However, once that was past, it became more involving.
The other is how they got to Rivendale and the reaction to getting there. They made it seem like they accidentally stumbled upon Rivendale, even though it was revealed to be Gandalf's plan. However, I would assume that such a huge kingdom in such a large mountain area would be not only difficult to stumble upon, but incredulous to think that the dwarfs would not know they were heading in that direction.
Other than these two things, I was captivated totally. I think the direction was wonderful, once again giving us such wonderful shots of the New Zealand countryside. I have to agree with Peter Jackson that New Zealand is the only place on the world that actually could be Middle Earth. The actors knew their roles well. Even Ian McKellan was able to portray Gandalf as the wizard who has not yet ascended to the higher level he did during the war of the ring. After a slightly awkward beginning, I was totally able to see Martin Freeman as the younger version of Ian Holm's character. Being a huge fan of Holm, I do not give that adulation lightly.
We will all form our opinions of this movie for different reasons. If you haven't seen it, try to go in without preconceived notions. Do not be of the opinion that taking a small book and making it into three three hour movies will make it dreadful. It doesn't. This has started the telling of the story of very good material in a way that makes it more enjoyable than ever.