The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey In-Theater Review

Having survived the long trek to see the midnight showing, I will attempt to give a brief (and spoiler free) review of Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth. It was the Digital 3D version at 24 FPS, not 48 FPS that I saw, so no comment can be made on the controversy surrounding the new technology. Fears of odd coloring that had been raised after early footage was released can be put to rest for the movie looks and sounds like the previous Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The best way to sum up my feelings about the film is that it was a nostalgic return home, for I felt that peculiar emotion during the scenes that were set in very familiar places from The Fellowship of the Ring. It didn’t hurt that there were familiar faces from that film and that the beginning of this movie dovetails into the beginning of that one. For my final thoughts you can skip to the end of the review, since I’ll be going into technical details about now.

At two hours and forty-five minutes, An Unexpected Journey seemed as packed as one of the extended editions, yet moves at a much quicker pace. This was very unexpected to me since The Hobbit is a slim volume compared to the greater Tolkien epic. Events from the appendices of Lord of the Rings have been inserted to expand and clarify what is going on, plus original material involving an albino orc and the wizard Radagast the Brown.

Something needs to be addressed right away. The Hobbit is more of a comedy adventure story than Lord of the Rings. If you enjoyed the humor of the first third of Fellowship of the Ring, then you will like this movie. Don’t expect the heavy drama  and sense of impending doom that permeated the other Middle Earth films. After all, this story was written to be a children’s book.

Purists will find much to complain about as they did with Jackson’s earlier adaptations due to many events being changed around or altered. I can’t get into details without spoilers, but those who have read the book will spot the changes pretty quickly. Like before, my personal opinion is that they did not hurt the story.

Since the movie was filmed in 3D rather than being post processed, the depth works better than most 3D films. One nice thing is that objects were not thrown at the camera in obvious bids to force the audience to gasp and say “wow!” as is the norm. Restrained is the best word to describe it and the best moments are actually during the quiet scenes. The lovely scenery benefits the most, while a brief pan to sparks drifting up from a chimney was my favorite usage of 3D to my surprise.

CGI is used very heavily in the movie, more than I expected. Most of the time it works well, but there was some overuse of “ragdoll” physics that was distracting. Effects people seem to forget that people tense up and don’t flap around unless unconscious or dead. To my eyes, this was a step backwards from ten years ago.

The acting is terrific all the way around. Martin Freeman is perfect as the younger Bilbo Baggins and his scene with Gollum is the high point of the movie. Andy Serkis is once again amazing as the pitiable yet dangerous creature. Richard Armitage plays the dark hero well as Thorin, but doesn’t have the charisma of Viggo Mortenson’s Aragorn of the earlier films. Ian McKellan is Gandalf, ‘nuff said there.

To me the surprise performance was Ken Stott as Balin. He is very much the heart and soul of the large group of adventurers while gently stealing the scenes he is in. So as of right now, he is my favorite dwarf of the story.

Speaking of dwarves, their race finally gets a full presentation including seeing what their underground kingdoms were like in their full glory. Unlike the ruins of Moria, they are beautiful and look like fascinating places to visit.

So was the movie any good, you wonder?

The answer is a solid yes, though I will say that it is not to the level of Lord of the Rings. I knew that would be the case simply because of the difference in the source material. In my opinion, the adaptation is superior to the novel due to the story being fully fleshed out. Reaching the lofty pinnacle of movies that the prior films did wasn’t going to happen, but this is better than 98% of all other films being made these days.

Moments of genuine emotion are scattered throughout the comedy and fighting in a delicate balance that could have gone very wrong. Fortunately, Jackson and company have not lost their magic – which was something to fear after the abysmal remake of King Kong. If you missed Middle Earth at all, this movie is a must see.

How about for everyone else, the few who have never seen Lord of the Rings?

I think it will be a better introduction to Middle Earth, actually. The story is less complicated and many things unexplained from before are made clear in the movie. I suspect the new trilogy will actually serve as a starting point once finished, unlike the Star Wars franchise fiasco.

While taken from a book aimed at children, this is a PG-13 film with a vengeance. There is a dichotomy between the graphic battles with limb and heads flying everywhere and the humor. The propensity of the characters to break out into verse and song captures the childlike aura, if not the core of the novel.  But the violence makes this movie unsuitable for most children under double digits.

I highly recommend the film and plan to see it again in 2D.

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As a postscript, I should mention that the showing I went to was sold out and my father deciding to come along last minute made it very hairy in getting seats. When I had purchased my ticket in the morning there were only three showings at the theater: one in 3D and two 2D. One of the 2D showings was sold out at the time.

My father purchased his ticket online an hour and a half before the showing and I noticed that there were now two 3D and three 2D showings. Shortly after I arrived, the last ticket was sold for all five theaters at Marcus Cinema on Ward.

The place was packed and parking was difficult. Cosplayers showed up in force with most of the audience being college age. I can’t say if the showings in Onalaska at the Valley Six were sold out, but I bet they were.

This film is going to be a monster hit from the crowd reactions – they were higher than kites from the experience despite it being 3 AM when it ended.

Oh and I just discovered the 3D glasses have the movie name printed on them. Looks like I have a souvenir worth keeping.