Saturday arvo matinée fare...62.5+%

Rating: 6/10 (23 January 2013)

It takes a little while, but eventually this movie does make the prospect of seeing more in the series interesting. Roughly 30 odd minutes. That first half hour is a real chore to watch and you wonder if you have the stomach for another two and a bit hours of it. In it you have Bilbo Baggins (as an old Hobbit...still played by Martin Freeman?) narrate some events which he was not a witness to in order to introduce us to the adventures he had as a young Hobbit as a result. I was actually wondering if the entire movie would be like a bedtime story! All this alternates in that first half hour with scenes of the old Bilbo at his home with his son Frodo (just Googled him..."adoptive heir" is the phrase used to describe him), preparing for some "party". It's all just so incredibly dull...perfunctory dialogue and action which just makes you question why it so lovingly depicted. In fact, the dialogue is just uninspired...low level writing...not showing but saying.
Things don't improve that much when Bilbo is imposed upon by a small band of dwarfs, including their prince, Thorin (played by Richard Armitage). Thorin plans to reclaim his ancestral home from a covetous dragon. The dwarfs intend Bilbo to help them do this...something which Bilbo is understandably reluctant to agree to. The wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) is set on having Bilbo join the adventure in any case. It's as tiresome and annoying to watch this deluge of dwarfs in Bilbo's house as it is for Bilbo, who likes his house to be neat. And when the dwarfs sing...hmm...entertainment ain't what it used to be!
Anyway, the movie is almost ready to redeem itself...but not before having some perfunctory action scenes. Not sure whether the flaws of the movie are the flaws of the book (not having read either of Tolkien's famous novels but enjoying the previous "Rings" trilogy...especially the second, which knows how to stage engrossing action scenes), but the film does not come across as great art. It's more like adequate Saturday afternoon matinée fare...and on that level it delivers...albeit in just under three hours! Whilst the early part of the movie comes across as a children's fairytale, the latter part of the movie is pitched more at adults...there is some violence which I think would not be suitable to a very young audience, perhaps.
At some point the movie rises above these humble beginnings and makes you want to follow the story down the road. After the great work of the "Rings" trilogy by the same maker (Peter Jackson), The Hobbit seems like a precursor work where those involved find it hard to reach the right tone. Richard Armitage's Thorin at times seems nothing but poses. Cate Blanchett's character of Galadriel doesn't seem to capture the ethereal tone she set much better in the "Rings" trilogy. And the quizzical elvin poses seem style over substance often times too...suggesting dogs...or Spock. All this just adds to the sense of a story full of action which signifies nothing.
Sad to say, these weren't the only times I found proceedings just plain silly. Imagine my surprise when told that dragons "covet gold"! M'kay. When the stone giants fight, that just seems pure popcorn from a Saturday arvo matinée with no pretensions of greatness. With such silliness going on, the at times solemnity and earnestness is an odd fit for this kind of story.
Since this trilogy will be a prequel to the "Lord of the rings" trilogy, I now wish that I had remembered more of the story of the ring in that previous trilogy. It's also a pity that some of Gollum's intriguing riddles are difficult to understand and so are missed because the movie wants Gollum to be quite "Other". Hopefully the DVD will have subtitles!
It was interesting to read the disclaimer at the end of the movie about no animals being harmed in the making of this movie. I think that that is what was stated. That might be false advertising as this movie has been in the news prior to its release for the number of animals that died during the making of it...goats and horses, I believe.
Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, hopefully things will improve from here on in. Currently it seems like a glorified "B" movie, with hammy acting and some nothing dialogue. But it would take a pretty bad sequel for me to give up on the trilogy.
It must be noted though that the cinematography and special effects are a treat...an award for the latter would be deserved, if not the former...but I do like "Life of Pi" for that honour.