The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) - Welcome Back to Middle Earth! (+48fps Discussion)

Rating: 8/10 (21 December 2012)

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is the first installment in the highly-anticipated "The Hobbit" trilogy, setting as a prequel to the original Lord of the Rings films, based on J.R.R. Tolkien's series of novels. Directer Peter Jackson has once again taken us back to this magical world that he has helped to create back then, and delivered yet again, another entertaining ride. "An Unexpected Journey" starts off the trilogy of prequels, where Bilbo Baggins, played by Martin Freeman, a little Hobbit in the land of the Shire, has been asked upon by Gandalf the Grey, bringing back Ian McKellen to the most memorable performance of his whole career, and a group of thirteen dwarfs, to set out on a very long journey to win back the dwarfs' treasure from a fiery dragon. In this first part, Peter Jackson has decided to film this movie in 48 frames per second, higher than the usual quality of an ordinary movie with 24fps. Although I didn't see "The Hobbit" in the 48fps format, I've heard plenty of mixed thoughts, that it made the film look distracting at times, making the fast action scenes look a little rough, while at times, it looks like the audience is actually stepping into Middle Earth. But, I just saw it in the regular format, but if I did see it in 48fps, I would have said the same thing. Starting off with the positive aspects, almost everything I adored from the original LOTR film trilogy, from the gorgeous effects, the beautiful music, the breathtaking detail in art direction and costumes, and the incredible directing style of Peter Jackson. As for the performances, Martin Freeman is definitely the one who steals the show playing Bilbo Baggins, delivering some perfectly-timed humor, some great moments of depth and heart, while having such great likability. Of course, Ian McKellen does a perfect job, reprising his role as Gandalf the Grey, and it's really fun to see this character back on screen. A few characters from the original trilogy reprise their roles in here, most of them should be unspoiled, but it felt very nice to see them back on screen. But sadly, this film does have a bunch of problems, not making them stand out like the original trilogy, while most of these problems are story-based. Peter Jackson tries way too hard to add many information from J.R.R. Tolkien's 300-page book and put into one trilogy. But for this first part, although staying true to the material so far, sadly adds a few unnecessary plot points, drawn-out exposition, and a few uninteresting characters to fill up the entire 166-minute movie. Although the leader of the dwarfs, Thorin, is the most interesting character with a great amount of back-story, depth, and bad-assedry to his character, most of the other dwarfs carry less of a personality, and it's hard to feel sympathy for most of these people, when they don't have a lot of character development to share. The first and third acts feel more like the entertaining aspects, while most of the second act drags on for the most part, making the pacing the lowest aspect of the movie. But, the film definitely makes up for that flaw with what is arguably the most entertaining scene in the whole movie: the confrontation between Bilbo and Gollum in the caves, sharing a game of riddles. I could have watched this terrific scene for 3 hours, and still be entertained. Through some of the best motion capture work ever put to film, Andy Serkis once again delivers a terrific performance, reprising his most memorable character in the LOTR trilogy, and it was such a fun time to see the character one last time. But for it's batch of flaws, "The Hobbit" is still an entertaining ride, with great action, performances, and visual splendor, even for it's few story-based issues. Whether in 24fps or 48fps, "The Hobbit" is an experience that still needs to be seen in the theaters, and as I much as I still believe that "The Hobbit" would have been better off as one full-length movie, instead of a trilogy, I'm still anticipating for Part 2. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey", in my review, "marvelous visuals and remarkable entertainment, but flawed".