Gandalf: Ian McKellen
Thorin: Richard Armitage
Balin: Ken Scott
Dwalin: Graham McTavish
Bofur: James Nesbitt
Bombur: Stephen Hunter
Fili: Dean O’Gorman
Kili: Aidan Turner
Radagast: Sylvester McCoy
Great Goblin: Barry Humphries
Old Bilbo: Ian Holm
Frodo: Elijah Wood
Elrond: Hugo Weaving
Galadriel: Cate Blanchett
Saruman: Christopher Lee
Gollum: Andy Serkis
New Line Cinema and MGM
Studios present a film directed by Peter Jackson. Written by Fran Walsh &
Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo Del Toro. Based on the
novel “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien. Running time: 169 min. Rated PG-13 (for
extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence and frightening images).
What is it that makes a
great filmmaker? While range of subject matter and the ability to present
different visions with skill can be a measure of greatness in this art, more
often a filmmaker’s greatness lies within his ability to present one particular
style with originality and power. The same can be said for great authors. There
is no denying that the creator of Middle Earth, J.R.R. Tolkien, was a great
writer and storyteller. Even more so he showed an incredible skill to construct
an entire world and mythology unique unto itself. Filmmaker Peter Jackson found
his particular specialty in Tolkien’s Middle Earth as well. Jackson seems
destined to be the visual chronicler of Tolkien’s creation. He does it with the
same skill and artistry as Tolkien did himself.
“The Hobbit” comes on the
heels of Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, one of the greatest
technological and storytelling feats in cinematic history. As such, there is no
way to avoid comparing it with its predecessor. No doubt, the fact that it is
once again co-written and directed by Jackson will bring audiences into it with
a degree of skepticism already built up. The fact that Jackson chose to take
this single book and expand it to equal length of his “Lord of the Rings”
masterpiece only adds to that skepticism. I was one of those skeptics. I didn’t
understand what Jackson was trying to accomplish by taking what was a smaller
and simpler story and expanding it in length to match the size and scope of
“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. Now, that I’ve seen the film, I understand.
Jackson’s “The Hobbit” is
not simply the prequel to “The Lord of the Rings”, it is another separate adventure
in the same universe executed on the same epic scale. He buffers much of
Tolkien’s original “Hobbit” story with historical details about Middle Earth taken
from Tolkien’s posthumous works. The story is somewhat changed by the
incorporation of this information into “The Hobbit” story, but instead of
distracting from the plot, it only enriches it.
He brings back familiar
characters from the previous films, like the ancient elf Galadriel and the
wizard Sarumon. The wizard Radagast, who is only mentioned in the book, plays a
larger and rather humorous role here having been fleshed out from his omission
in the “Lord of the Rings” movies and from some background provided in Tolkien’s
“Unfinished Tales”. These additional characters’ scenes hint at what’s to come
in Middle Earth but don’t overbear the story about Gandalf, 12 dwarves and one
hobbit on a quest to free the dwarves’ land from a dragon named Smaug.
If you’ve read the book, you
might recall it gets a little more complicated than that with the Battle of the
Five Armies, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. For the time being, Jackson
does a good job of working some foundational details of what’s to come without
distracting from the primary story of the adventure in which the dwarves and
Gandalf invite Bilbo Baggins to join them. As a hobbit, Baggins is not
accustomed to adventure, and Gandalf’s choice of him as the band’s “burglar” is
suspect. But, Gandalf sees more in Baggins than a mere hobbit, and slowly
throughout the film so do we.
There are more spectacular
action sequences than I imagined there’d be because of the expansion of the
story from one book into three films. The opening sequence firmly established
Smaug’s menace without destroying the tradition of never revealing your enemy
until his part in the story comes into play. If ever there was a character I
couldn’t wait to see in the sequel, it is Smaug. There are also a couple of
close run ins with the orcs who are on our heroes trail with the White orc, Azog,
seeking revenge against the dwarven leader, Thorin, who relieved him of a limb.
Their run in with the Mountain
Trolls is just as humorous and exciting as I remember from reading it when I
was ten. There is also a rather spectacular action sequence through the belly
of the mountains involving the Goblin King. Lest we not forget the original
introduction of Gollum to the world, Martin Freeman wonderfully plays Bilbo’s
game of riddles with the poor beast, once again played through motion capture
by Andy Serkis. Freeman displays here what a good choice he was for the hobbit
role, played by Ian Holm in “Lord of the Rings”, who also reprises in the
opening sequence here. Freeman’s Bilbo isn’t the innocent that Elijah Wood’s Frodo
is in the earlier films. He has a darker side, but he also has a braveness to
him that suggests he could be more of an asset than even Gandalf might’ve imagined.
The greatest aspect in this
new vision of Middle Earth that was somewhat lacking in the first set of films
is a lightness to the way the characters approach their predicament. The doom
and gloom of the first trilogy really only rears its head in foreshadowing and
implications; but for the most part, the approach to the material this time is
less grave. The are several songs from Tolkien’s original text that are tackled
as if breaking into song is a normal thing for dwarves to do, and I believe it
is. It seems quite natural here, and the songs are beautifully realized.
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