The Infraggable Tony-Man reviews "The Hobbit"

{Original Post Date 26 December 2012}

Allow me to caveat a few things before I get into the review. First, I hope everyone had a good Christmas. For me, this one was sort of meh, for the most part. Second, I am a complete and utter fan of Tolkein's work. From the Hobbit, to the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, to so many other things. I've read most of his books, and I've seen the Lord of the Rings movies no less than seventy times, but was waiting nine years from Peter Jackson's "The Return of the King" (2003) to "The Hobbit" (2012) really worth it, or has the magic of Middle-Earth faded with too much time. That's what we're going to take a look at now. So, Blow your horn of Gondor, allow me to have your sword, and your bow, and your axe, as the Infraggable Tony-Man takes you on this review of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit."

As most of you may know, Peter Jackson returned back to New Zealand back to the site of where the Lord of the Rings Trilogy takes place. And before I get into anything else. Perhaps the biggest strength of the Hobbit is its massive set pieces. The scenery and the lighting and colors are beautiful. Very spot on. Even with this being a fantasy world, never for a moment did I think that there was any place that the characters went were ever out of place.

And just like "The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" starts off with a disembodied voice describing and setting the mood for the rest of the movie, along with telling the events that has lead up to where the movie begins. But the best part about this, is that the one who is speaking is none other than Old Master Bilbo Baggins himself, played by Ian Holms, who was Bilbo in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. This is very clever, indeed. And a wise choice. As it kind of leads up to a cameo by Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Old Bilbo just moments before the events in "The Fellowship of the Rings." We get to see the No Admittance except for Party Business sign, and we get a good look at Hobbiton, and of Bag End. This alone is a nod to everyone who loved the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. And it certainly brought nostalgia back to me. But I'm jumping ahead of myself a little here.

The introduction tells of the village of Dale, and of the Dwarf Kingdom under the Lonely Mountain known as Erebor. Here, they speak of how the Dwarves under the mountain lived, and that their leader, named Thror ruled. The Dwarves began mining for gold and jewels, and riches and precious metals... but one day they found a gleaming jewel called the Arkenstone (which if you've read "The Hobbit" you know becomes increasingly important), which Thror takes as a symbol of his divine rule. Even such to the point that Men and Elves pay homage to the King Under the Mountain. With the Arkenstone in Thror's possession, he begins to get gold sickness... and soon afterward, bad things begin to happen. Which of course, introduces us to the dragon Smaug. There really is little motivation on why Smaug has come to Erebor in the books, and thankfully Peter Jackson doesn’t give us some bullshit motivation in the movie. That is something I’ve always appreciated with the Lord of the Rings movies. And finally, the Dwaves have to vacate their homes because of Smaug, when no help came from the Elves. Thranduil, the King of the Greenwood Elves did not come to the aid of Thror and his people. Here, I was a little disappointed that there was no Legolas cameo. People who have not read Tolkein’s material would not know that Legolas is Thranduil’s son. But since it’s never mentioned in “The Hobbit” itself, I can excuse this, and hope to see a cameo of him in one of the later movies. And the intro to the movie is as solid as one could come to expect from Peter Jackson.

Having said that, I think the biggest weakness that this movie suffers, is it’s pacing. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is 2 hours and 46 minutes long or a total of 166 minutes long. With Peter Jackson deciding to make The Hobbit into a trilogy, it’s clear, that he will have to put a lot of padding into the movies. So just how does Peter Jackson pad this movie? Well, the first hour or so into the movie, it deals mostly with the main character, Bilbo Baggins, played surprisingly well by Martin Freeman, sixty years before the events of The Lord of the Rings. Here Bilbo meets Gandalf the Grey (with Sir Ian McKellen reprising the role to my great elation!) and Gandalf pretty much choosing (much to his chagrin) Bilbo Baggins to accompany him on an adventure. When Bilbo flat out refuses, he is met by thirteen Dwarves, and that crafty Gandalf the Grey. The thirteen dwarves are Dwalin, Balin, Oin, Gloin (who is the father of Gimli… again, no Gimli cameo… but again, not mentioned in “The Hobbit” so it’s excused), Ori, Nori, Dori, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fili, Kili, and the leader of the Dwarves, Thorin… Thror’s grandson. So, there’s a lot of antics, and a fun little musical number about how Bilbo Baggins hates how these dwarves are eating all of his food, and how they were going to bend the forks and blunt the knives, and that goes on for a while. But when Thorin gets to the house, everything gets serious again, and with a lot of talking, there’s very little that actually gets done, until they decide that they’re going to go off on an adventure, once Gandalf gives Thorin a map and key. Both very vital to get back into Erebor. And once it’s decided, they sing a more mellow and quite frankly, catchy tune that many of you guys can hear from the trailers.

I get it, really Peter Jackson wanted to slow this down, and allow the audiences to get to know these dwarves, and sort of lay the plot down. But when he compares this to the rest of the movie, the pacing here just seems awkward. Most of these characters are forgettable anyway, and only a few of them really have relevance to the books, much less to the movie. But, for what it’s worth, I really liked how Peter Jackson doesn’t try to give each dwarf equal screen time, when again, many of them really don’t have significance to the overall plot. But here is where things get a little clunky, and a little trite. The Company of Dwarves, Gandalf, and Bilbo eventually do get underway on their adventures, they go through some wacky adventures with the Trolls… which by the way sound like a couple of Orcs from “The Two Towers” (Really listen to their voices, and you’ll agree), we get to see Gandalf’s sword, Glamdring again… and the origin of Sting (which is faithful to the book, by the way), but before I go on any farther… there is something that really sort of got under my skin.

Rhadagast the Brown. In another effort to pad the movie, Rhadagast the Brown was given far more screen time than he should have. But… at the same time, his inclusion in “The Hobbit” is also pretty vital. Well, not to “The Hobbit” itself, but this sets in motion the White Council… to which I will get to later. Basically, Rhadagast’s part in the Middle Earth ethos, is that he’s the one that goes to the abandoned Elven fortress of Dol Goldur and discovers the evil works of “The Necromancer” (who is Sauron). This prompts Gandalf to think in bigger terms, than just returning the Dwarves back to Erebor. Finally, through trickery, or through cunning planning… Gandalf leads Thorin and company to Imladris, or better known as Rivendell. Here we meet up with Elrond (played by the always talented Hugo Weaving… who was born in New Zealand) who is able to read the map properly. We get to see Galadriel (played by the lovely Cate Blanchette), and we see Sauraman the White (played by the always nasty Christopher Lee).

They have what is known as the White Council, which is not spoken of in the Hobbit book, itself… but I feel is quite an important thing that Peter Jackson included, because it speaks of the possible re-emergence of “The Enemy” (which is Sauron). Gandalf and Galadriel thinks that the quest for Erebor has set in motion dark things that has to be dealt with, while Sauraman believes that Gandalf is looking for trouble where none exist. And this is a key point in the Middle Earth ethos, though it does not have much bearing to The Hobbit itself, and hopefully not for the movie trilogy. While I appreciate that Peter Jackson saw fit to put the White Council in this movie, it’s grossly inaccurate. But for what it’s worth, I applaud the effort here.

There are many more wild and wacky adventures, and while they’re all highly interesting, and they are all stunning and immerse, ultimately they accomplish nothing. Which, is more or less how the book paced it. But I would be remissed if I didn’t speak about my favorite part of the movie… the riddles in the dark scene. And to Peter Jackson’s credit… there is little that he left out. Gollum meets Bilbo for the first time, and the One Ring is found. Each riddle that Gollum and Bilbo ask each other are straight from the book. And you could just feel the tension that Bilbo feels. Not only that… the tone and voice that Gollum has, when he realizes “What does Baggins have in his pocketses…” is perfect. This scene is probably the best scene of any of the Peter Jackson Middle Earth movies. In fact, I would be so bold to say that it’s probably one of the best movie scenes since the Return of the King.

I could go on and talk about the orc Azog and his contribution to the movies, but the Azog character is grossly inaccurate, and was pretty much just put here in the movies so that there would be a main antagonist for this movie. Azog in the books actually died in Moria before The Hobbit. He’s not really that interesting, he’s sort of a bland character… but so far as begin an agent of conflict for the Dwarves, he’s a pretty good adversary for Thorin and Bilbo. Take him for what he’s worth… but he’s grossly inaccurate.

Last point I want to make, and it goes back to the movie’s pacing. With the adventure, so far as the books go, just about halfway over, and with two movies left to go, Peter Jackson’s really going to have to pad much of the remaining two movies. I already know that the other two movies are going to be as long, if not longer than “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” This was fine, since the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was three movies one for each book. But now that Peter Jackson is trying to make a trilogy for one book, which… honestly wasn’t nearly as immersive as any of the trilogy’s books. I wonder how the remaining two movies will hold up. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” has pacing issues. It sometimes feel clunky, and the first hour or so, while very interesting did feel a little stretched out, while the rest of the movie felt a little too contracted. But despite all of that, there are little gems here and there that keeps this movie from being one that I would criticize (more than I have). If you can look over its clunkiness… and the fact that sometimes it almost looks like it’s going to trip over its own feet; I would call this a great movie. Did it capture the Middle Earth of nine years ago? No, not really. Is it a movie that you’re hoping to get an extended edition of? Hell yes. Did it ruin the Middle Earth experience for me? No. And that’s the most important thing. I will probably see this movie again, when it gets to the cheap theater. And I’m obviously going to pick up the DVD for it when it comes out. “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is a great movie, and that my little Shirelings, is my review.

Next time on the “Infraggable Tony-Reviews” I will review Tom Cruise in “Jack Reacher.” Until then… I’ll see you guys later.