The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

NOTICE: Although I was employed at the Walt Disney Company at the time this review was written, the following review is purely the personal opinion of the reviewer, and is in no way sponsored by or representative of the opinions of the Walt Disney Company or its affiliates.

Rating: • • • • ½
Age Recommendation: 10+
In preparation for watching the midnight showing of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, I decided to refresh my memory with a re-read of the novel, which I had previously read for the first and only time sometime shortly after the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001).  I only got about thirty pages in come time for the release.  As it turns out, foreknowledge of the plot is unnecessary, because Peter Jackson has managed once again to deliver an adaptation that can stand on its own.

We start at the very beginning (a very good place to start), first with the establishment of dwarves as victims of Smaug the dragon and elves as moose-riding wimps, and then we flash forward past the events of The Hobbit to a very particular day in the Shire.  It is the day of Bilbo Baggins's eleventy-first birthday party.  Seem familiar?  Well, to most viewers it should, as this is the very day on which The Fellowship of the Ring begins.  Bilbo is writing down the story of... well, The Hobbit.

From the moment I saw Ian Holm and Elijah Wood in the previews, I was afraid that the inclusion of Frodo and 111-year-old Bilbo would detract from the storytelling in a gimmicky, interruptive manner.  This is not the case at all.  They are merely there at the very beginning to tie together the two trilogies and to establish that this new Bilbo (Martin Freeman) is, in fact, the same Bilbo Baggins.  Jackson even throws in the portrait of a younger Bilbo, conveniently placed on top of Bilbo's book, which seems to me a bit cheesy and unnecessary, but the rest of this scene is full of cute details that quickly sum up the hobbits we know.

After some dramatically ironic foreshadowing of the events of The Lord of the Rings, Frodo runs off to greet Gandalf.  Then, the flashback (and the real story) begins.  As one familiar with the BBC show Sherlock, in which Martin Freeman plays Dr. Watson, I knew to expect great things from Mr. Freeman as Bilbo.  Not only does he pull off a hobbit 'do, ears, and feet remarkably well, but he also plays the timid yet brave hero to a T.

Of course, Ian McKellan reprising his role as Gandalf is a treat in and of itself.  In banter over the perceived goodness of a morning, Gandalf and Bilbo face off as rivals of wit and wordplay, establishing right off the bat Bilbo's cleverness and spunk.  Further silliness ensues as dwarves arrive by the droves to eat the hobbit's food and sing songs as they clean the dishes like something out of a Disney film.  Each of the thirteen dwarves is given some introduction (perhaps so you don't confuse them with the seven dwarfs?).  Then things get serious and the dwarves sing a hauntingly beautiful song about their lost gold.

Once the group is on its merry way, it is one set of villains after another, broken only briefly by the humorous, nature-obsessed wizard Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy) and the solemn elves of Rivendell (where Elrond, Galadriel, and Saruman--Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, and Christopher Lee, respectively--make guest appearances).  I was somewhat disappointed in the handling of the mountain trolls, named in the book William, Tom, and Bert, who are presented as more gross than comic here.  Call me old-fashioned, but I do get tired of CGI monsters battling live-action characters.  No matter how fantastic the detail of the computer image, give me some latex masks and puppets any day.  Actually, the extent of the CGI use is my chief complaint, as some of the creatures are downright disgusting and yet less believable than an extra in a mask would have been.  Is it really necessary for one of the dwarves to have an axe blade imbedded in his head? And since when do orcs speak perfect English?  Don't even get me started on the painful-to-look-upon Goblin King and "pale orc."

Finally, Gollum makes his appearance, and while Bilbo finding the ring is not depicted in the same way as the brief image of a hand grasping in water for a glowing ring shown in The Lord of the Rings, this scene is a highlight of this first trilogy installment for its twisting of words.  The joy of this film lies more in these little gems of dialogue than in the visual spectacle, although it has its fair share of breathtaking scenery, crafty camera angles, and epic (if mostly recycled) musical score.

All in all, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey lives up to its name.  It is a familiar yet fresh and fantastic tale.  While we only get the first third of a story, there is plenty of content (specifically, action) packed in.  Martin Freeman makes a brilliant young Bilbo, and while the thirteen dwarves are somewhat forgettable as individuals, their leader Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) does a fine job.  Though I feel he could tone down the emphasis on CGI, Peter Jackson once again presents on the screen a rewarding experience one ought not to miss. 

Summary: This movie is a well-cast, worthy installment to the Middle Earth first visualized in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy.  While the graphic grotesqueness and gore feel less real in this fantasy world, and some elements may seem a tad trite, the overall effect is still one of awe and little pleasing "ah-ha!" moments as things fall into place.  While I expect fans of the original novel to be the most critical, I recommend anyone who is mature enough to handle movie violence and its sheer length to see it in theaters.

The Good: great casting, new songs to sing, epic setting, well-thought-out script, excitement of adventure, witty dialogue, references and tie-ins to The Lord of the Rings
The Bad: excessive grotesqueness, recycled soundtrack (not such a terrible thing), unnecessary drawing of young Bilbo
The Even Worse: nothing