THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Fans had wanted a live action film adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit way before the Lord of the Rings trilogy came out in the 2000s. Having said that, it was somewhat of a delight that it came around during the 2010s.
PLOT
In An Unexpected Journey, the first of this extensive trilogy, we get to see the adventure Bilbo Baggins had 60 years before the events of Lord of the Rings took place. He is tricked by Gandalf the Grey to host for 13 dwarves, Thorin Oakenshield, Dwalin (Graham McTavish), Balin (Ken Stott), Fíli (Dean O’Gorman), Kíli (Aidan Turner), Óin (John Callen), Glóin (Peter Hambleton), Bifur (William Kircher), Bofur (James Nesbitt), Bombur (Stephen Hunter), Dori (Mark Hadlow), Nori (Jed Brophy) and Ori (Adam Brown). Gandalf has recruited Baggins as the company’s official burglar for their quest to the Lonely Mountain. Years prior, the dragon Smaug invaded and drove the dwarves of Erebor out of the mountain to take it full of gold for himself. Bilbo reluctantly agrees to join them all. During this adventure, Thorin is against the aid of elves because King Thranduil of the Wood Elves refused to intervene when the dragon attacked. After an attack by cave trolls, they uncover their said cave. There, they find three elvish blades: Gandalf finds ‘Glamdring the Foe hammer’ and Thorin gets ‘Orcrist the Goblin Cleaver’, while Bilbo gets the dagger he would later name ‘Sting’. The company would then encounter the wildlife wizard Radagast the Brown. He tells Gandalf that he’s encountered giant spiders and when discovering Dol Guldur, he encountered a ‘Necromancer’, one that can bring back the dead. He also gives him a blade he found, encouraging him to investigate. The company also encounter an Orc pack that ride Wargs. Radagast is able to distract the pack while everyone else is able to flee and head to Rivendell. There, Thorin gives in and allows Lord Elrond (Hugo Weaving) to read the map of the Lonely Mountain. He reads that a hidden door in Erebor will only open during Durin’s day, the new year for dwarves. Gandalf does discuss of the blade Radagast found to Elrond, Lady Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Saruman the White (Christopher Lee). The blade belonged to Witch King of Angmar, but was buried with him ages prior, meaning something or someone dug it out. The dwarves & Bilbo leave ahead of the Wizard before his council goes any further. Before he goes to catch up, Galadriel also encourages Gandalf to investigate Dol Guldur. After surviving the conflict between Stone giants, the company attempts to rest in another cave. As Bilbo attempts to leave, feeling that he doesn’t belong, they are captured by goblins, ruled by the Great Goblin (Barry Humphries). The hobbit does get separated by them when encountering another goblin and both fall into a crevice. He survives the fall but encounters Gollum, who drops a golden ring, unbeknownst. He takes it for himself and escapes from him after a game of riddles. He does catch up with the dwarves who were rescued by Gandalf, who also killed the Great Goblin. After escaping the cave, they are chased again by Orcs but are led by Azog the Defiler, who killed Thorin’s grandfather Thror in the Battle of Moria. Thorin tries to fight him but is outmatched due to the interference of his foe’s warg. As Bilbo steps in and saves his life, the rest of the company are rescued by giant eagles and escape death from the Orcs again. When dropped off by the eagles at the Carrock mountain, Thorin thanks Baggins for saving him and apologizes for doubting him. The film ends with the company seeing Erebor from a distance but at the mountain, the dragon has just awaken.
THOUGHTS
When seeing this film in 2013, I have to admit that I had a blast returning to Middle Earth. Re-watching it years later after reading the novel, I was surprised of its differences. The biggest surprise of this film is the obvious, that it is the first of a trilogy. The only other reason this is the case is because they use Appendices from the third Lord of the Rings novel The Return of the King. In the original novel of The Hobbit, the stuff surrounding Gandalf is not exactly expressed and the appendices fill in the plot holes. Despite that was the beginning of a trilogy that would answer later plot holes, the extended edition got us covered. There is extra footage of Rivendell where Bilbo discovers the Shards of Narsil, and a mural where Isildur fought Sauron who had the One Ring at the time, a clever foreshadow of what Bilbo would find. We also see Thorin and Baggins overhear a conversation where Elrond does not think it’s a good idea to go to Erebor because of the dragon sickness, obsession of gold that runs in the dwarf’s family. This angered the dwarf and this is the reason he left without the wizard. Going back to my true thoughts of this film is that it felt fresh air returning to this franchise, as if this was the first time we were introduced to this fictional universe. One peeve I have with this film is something that becomes a problem for the follow ups. Since the Battle of Moria was shown in flashback, we don’t see the entire flashback. The problem is that it isn’t repeated in The Battle of the Five Armies. It makes sense to not rush something like that for story purposes but considering how that played out, it didn’t hit the right mark completely. Another scene that had a flaw was the orc chase that happened midway of the film. Radagast tries to distract the orcs as the company runs away, but doesn’t continue once they’re made. Radagast should’ve kept trying and it was weird that he didn’t. The last problem is the ending. It looked cool seeing the dragon wake up and see the glimpse of it only by its eye, but it feels retconned because in this film, it’s skin is blue and in the The Desolation of Smaug, it’s red instead. We see it wake up here but you’re telling me it doesn’t do anything else until the sequel, feels confusing. When it comes to what I like, the big obvious will be the visuals. It is a hit and miss because while it looked unimpressive with the wargs, it pays off on the trolls and orcs. It definitely works on the former considering it was blended with the makeup the actors had. The action scenes such as the troll encounter, Stone giant battle and goblin chase are what keeps things exciting. I was also satisfied with composer Howard Shore returning for this film’s score and it’s follow ups. When it comes to the sound department, the best use of their work has to be when hearing the Ring fall from Gollum’s pocket. I can’t help but admit it because when you hear and see it happen, you just can’t look away. This proves that the they succeeded in creating the presence of this iconic artifact. What I do defend from the ending is the eagles. The reason they don’t take them to Erebor is because they’d quickly get killed by the dragon when spotted, which is the same answer for Lord of the Rings, their fate would have been decided much quicker and it wouldn’t be satisfying. So in this case, the long way they’d continue taking was worth it. And of course, we get another unique ensemble. It didn’t feel like Gandalf ever left because Sir Ian McKellen is still on point ensuring the wise presence that the character is all about. Without him, the protagonist doesn't get the much needed journey. While it was nice to see Ian Holm return in the opening as the elderly Bilbo who misses adventuring, Martin Freeman succeeds in bringing the curiosity, fear and bravery that represent the young Baggins throughout here and this trilogy. While I smiled seeing Elijah Wood briefly return as Frodo in the opening, I could not stop thinking about the return of Andy Serkis as Gollum, as he was such a highlight during The Two Towers. The entire riddle scene between Gollum and Bilbo made the movie for me because I believe you definitely feel the intensity of the scene and the chemistry between both actors. With that being said for returning characters, the new characters definitely succeed in creating said fresh air this film needed. Richard Armitage was the true highlight of the new cast. He owns the role of Thorin Oakenshield because he succeeds in expressing the bravery and pressure this character has deep within. He is the kind of character where you can’t wait to see what he does next because you’re impressed of how he refuses to give up when everyone else might. The dynamic he has with Bilbo is so effective because of how they different they are from one another. Bilbo lives simply because he has everything he wants in his home whereas Oakenshield does not and is willing to do whatever it takes to get it back. When Bilbo catches on to how much it means to him, it teaches us the theme that is the necessity to take risks in order to succeed, which is exactly what they do overcome danger. The rest of the dwarf actors are great as well because when they’re together onscreen, their chemistry is so on point, it feels as if they’ve known each other forever, which helps make them feel colorful. I didn’t mind their singing numbers because the fact that those songs were in the book as well, they represent their bond in their own way. Having said that, they are what make this pretty funny during this adventure. I mean, I’m always laughing whenever they first arrive at Bilbo’s home to their experience at Rivendell. I also think that Sylvester McCoy was a good choice for Radagast because he does a good job expressing the love of the wildlife and fear for the worst that this character is supposed to display. As for the villains, Manu Bennett held it down for Azog the Defiler through his stunning motion capture performance, making him become the frightening character the way Serkis became Gollum. To come to a close, Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a satisfying prequel and becomes worth watching every time. If you love this novels and fell in love with the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, you’ll likely enjoy this as well.
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