The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Director - Peter Jackson
Country - USA, New Zealand
Starring - Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen and Richard Armitage
Running Time - 169 minutes
A curious Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, journeys to the Lonely Mountain with a
vigorous group of Dwarves to reclaim a treasure stolen from them by the
dragon Smaug.
As the world rapidly uploads
itself to the digital space, there is a sense that the cinema has come full
circle. A machine art form for the machine age, when it began in the late 19th
century people immediately recognized its potential to take us to the world
unseen. We could travel to every part of the globe through a make-shift theatre
set up in the back of a gymnasium. Now it is the computer screen that draws the
minds of millions every day. With it, the cinema has moved towards the digital.
By that I do not mean the rise of digital cameras and projectors, but the
landscape itself. For the first time, and with a sizeable enough budget, film
makers can capture the magic not just of our own world, but of any one imagined
complete with lens flare and digital gloss through a recliner chair in an
office building.
Perhaps there is no finer moment
to illustrate this evolution than when Ian McKellen's Gandalf looks down at a
young Bilbo Baggins and states with a distinct lack of irony; 'The real world
is not in your books, it's out there.'
The reason that Jackson's Ring trilogy was such a defining moment
in cinema was because of how tangible it was. He drew on the beauty of New
Zealand's landscape and a balance between practical and computer effects to
create a world that was both believable and fantastical. With the advancements
of CGI even since the end of The Return
of the King, Jackson is able to create a much more expressive Middle-Earth
for prequel The Hobbit. The landscape
is more vibrant, the miniature ('bigatures') sets are replaced with digital
ones and every mildly recognizable British TV actor gets a fake nose. Unfortunately
with this reliance on computer effects, the authenticity has gone. You no
longer feel Middle Earth as a real world, but a product of digital conception,
expertly crafted but a product none the less. One could argue that this is a
younger, more innocent Middle Earth that has not been tainted with the
destructive allegorical evil of the Ring trilogy yet and therefore the more
colourful look is suited, indeed Tolkien's book is a more child-aimed affair.
However Jackson draws attention to its connection with Rings, coupled with some
of the darker side elements and the result is that The Hobbit has a rather
uneven tone and visual disconnection.
This is very much a prequel to
the trilogy and an older Bilbo, initially played by Ian Holm, pops up to tie
the two together. Make no mistake, although Frodo appears, this is Bilbo's
story. There's a terrific shot early on that cements this as Frodo steps out of
Bag End, a wide shot shows a hobbit in the distance striding through the
landscape, walking stick in hand. Before panning out to reveal Frodo
enthusiastically check the mail box for invitation responses, with it, the
baton has been handed back so speak. There is a freedom to this journey due to
the lack of 'the one ring' (at least in a significant sense) and Martin Freeman
isn't quite the wet blanket that Elijah Wood was. Watching him gradually slide,
or more appropriately, trip into the role of unlikely hero is very natural. His
courageous, yet rash actions and errors in judgement give away his
inexperience, and Freeman shrinks into the role, frequently letting the others
take over the action, but his moment will come in due time.
The band of Dwarves that make up
the group offer up plenty of entertaining interactions and riffs, even though
you'll really only remember the names of about five. There is an uneasy feeling
that hangs over this film that their quest just isn't that interesting. This
feeling is shared most of all by Jackson who includes a variety of subplots,
including an intriguing incident involving the rumoured emergence of a
necromancer, which I imagine will be handled in the sequel to come. It is as if
the movie is unsure of itself and looking to over compensate, it leaves itself
rather bloated.
At nearly three hours long, it
has to be said that it is just too long. The opening half hour amounts to
nothing more than descriptions of cutlery and sing-alongs. The pace gradually
increases as the film progresses, but it is constantly being interrupted by
establishing shots, flashbacks and, of course, the arbitrary trip to Rivendell
for which critic Bob Chipman rightly describes as 'The High Council of Exposition.' Make no mistake, once we leave
the Shire this isn't a slow film, it's very busy and littered with action, even to a fault. Some have been written in, some are smaller scale skirmishes that
have been expanded to full scale battles; they tick the boxes for sensational
excitement, but end up feeling quite repetitive and contrived. The worst of
which involves the mountain our heroes are traversing becoming a giant stone
monster itself, which might be the most overt artificial lengthening sequence
I've ever seen. The real highlight is undeniably Bilbo and Gollum's game of
riddles, which despite being intense and darkly funny, only enhances the
feeling that this is a step down from that series.
Much has been made of the 48
frames per second format; I for one cannot comment on how it looks yet, defiantly
I went with the 24-2D version. I am planning on seeing it for comparison, but
impressions I've heard have ranged from apathetic to bad. Really I don't see
this being the next step for cinema as Jackson intended and I wonder how much
more complicated things will get for the average movie goer.
There is some excellent film
making here, flashes of the brilliance that made Jackson's Lord of the Rings a classic of epic storytelling, but The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is too
bloated, too indulgent and simply just not as interesting. It has neither the
impact, nor organic design of its predecessors, and one cannot help but make
the comparison. At least now that the characters and set up has been properly
established, the next instalments will be a complete return to form. As it is
however, you cannot help but wonder how co-writer Del Toro's would compare. A
shadow has been cast over Middle Earth, but it is one made up of code and
pixels, it looms towards us, a warning of this new cinema at a speed of 48 (or
24) frames per second.
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