The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first part of the latest trilogy coming from director Peter Jackson based on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. First let me admit that I tried reading The Hobbit as the introduction to the Lord of the Rings trilogy twice in college and both times I found it boring and gave up on it. So I don’t care a hoot whether or not the movie is a faithful reproduction of that literary work. But what is presented on the screen is a wonderful adventure in which our unlikely hero is a Hobbit, played by Martin Freeman. I and my friends made multiple trips to the Merle Hay Cinema, carrying our towels and remembering “Do Not Panic!” when Martin Freeman saved the Earth in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in 2005. He was a delight as a fish out of water who suddenly is put in a situation in which he must save the Earth. Now he is cast as Bilbow Baggins, the Hobbit out to help the dwarfs recapture their homeland. At first Bilbow is appalled when he meets the dwarfs. They are invited by Gandolf, the wizard, to meet at Bilbow’s yet Gandolf fails to inform Bilbow of this fact. “I like to have visitors,” Bilbow says, “but I like to know them BEFORE they come visit!” But the 13 dwarfs arrive, take over his place, eat all his food, and behave in the most uncouth manner imaginable, and invite Bilbow to join their adventure. Bilbow is appalled of their behavior, much prefers his quiet uneventful life, turns them down, yet, when he awakes the next morning to an impeccably clean house, the dwarfs all gone and things are totally peaceful and quiet, he decides against living his uneventful life and runs off to join the dwarfs in their adventure.
The dwarfs are out to capture their home which is located in the Lonely Mountain. Their former kingdom had incredible wealth and their king had an overwhelming love of gold. But dragons also love and covet gold more than anything else, and one eventually comes to the kingdom, sweeps down and destroys the villages and defeats the dwarfs, killing their king, and forcing them from their homeland. Thorin (Richard Armitage) is the grandson of the defeated king and heir to the kingdom should it ever be recaptured. It is not going to be an easy quest. Enroute to the Lonely Mountain they encounter giant Mountain Trolls whose main goal is to try to find creatures they can eat and view the dwarfs as potential food; they get caught between a fight among giant rock folk; they are pursued by orcs whose leader has swore vengeance ever since he had his hand cut off by Thorin when the orcs attacked and were eventually defeated by the dwarfs; and they are also threatened by a mysterious force of evil known as the Necromancer. That is quite a lot to take on.
But there is also a lot of humor in the film; a depiction of a Shangri Las called the Hidden Valley where the fairies live in peace – an idyllic cliff dwelling city in which you may have a gazebo structure surrounded by 7 thousand foot waterfalls. If I had been on the adventure it would have been difficult for me to leave such a beautiful place to take on the horrors of the outside world.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is ultimately, though, a story of a people who want to take their homeland back and those that are willing to help them. It is about courage, camaraderie and people’s ability to take on whatever keeps them from their goal regardless of the likelihood of success. This is as topical as the strife between Palestinians and Israelis today. It is an adventure I certainly am willing to follow, and I believe you will be rewarded if you do as well.
One technical comment about the film. I saw it on the I-MAX screen and the enormous screen at the Merle Hay Cinema. I did not have the opportunity to see it in 3-D and XD with the 64 frame per second projector that the director developed to improve the experience. Old silent movies were shot at 28 frames per second and when sound came in the movies went to 32 frames per second and have pretty much stayed there since the 1930’s. The action sequences go so quickly that often part of the action blurs which I presume would be eliminated at the new 64 frames per second process. So if you have the opportunity to see it in the 64 frames per second format I do think it would be a better experience. But there is plenty to experience at the 32 frames per second projection that you won’t be bothered too much that some things go by so quickly you can’t quite see them clearly. Either version is quite an adventure!
Gary Kaufman
The dwarfs are out to capture their home which is located in the Lonely Mountain. Their former kingdom had incredible wealth and their king had an overwhelming love of gold. But dragons also love and covet gold more than anything else, and one eventually comes to the kingdom, sweeps down and destroys the villages and defeats the dwarfs, killing their king, and forcing them from their homeland. Thorin (Richard Armitage) is the grandson of the defeated king and heir to the kingdom should it ever be recaptured. It is not going to be an easy quest. Enroute to the Lonely Mountain they encounter giant Mountain Trolls whose main goal is to try to find creatures they can eat and view the dwarfs as potential food; they get caught between a fight among giant rock folk; they are pursued by orcs whose leader has swore vengeance ever since he had his hand cut off by Thorin when the orcs attacked and were eventually defeated by the dwarfs; and they are also threatened by a mysterious force of evil known as the Necromancer. That is quite a lot to take on.
But there is also a lot of humor in the film; a depiction of a Shangri Las called the Hidden Valley where the fairies live in peace – an idyllic cliff dwelling city in which you may have a gazebo structure surrounded by 7 thousand foot waterfalls. If I had been on the adventure it would have been difficult for me to leave such a beautiful place to take on the horrors of the outside world.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is ultimately, though, a story of a people who want to take their homeland back and those that are willing to help them. It is about courage, camaraderie and people’s ability to take on whatever keeps them from their goal regardless of the likelihood of success. This is as topical as the strife between Palestinians and Israelis today. It is an adventure I certainly am willing to follow, and I believe you will be rewarded if you do as well.
One technical comment about the film. I saw it on the I-MAX screen and the enormous screen at the Merle Hay Cinema. I did not have the opportunity to see it in 3-D and XD with the 64 frame per second projector that the director developed to improve the experience. Old silent movies were shot at 28 frames per second and when sound came in the movies went to 32 frames per second and have pretty much stayed there since the 1930’s. The action sequences go so quickly that often part of the action blurs which I presume would be eliminated at the new 64 frames per second process. So if you have the opportunity to see it in the 64 frames per second format I do think it would be a better experience. But there is plenty to experience at the 32 frames per second projection that you won’t be bothered too much that some things go by so quickly you can’t quite see them clearly. Either version is quite an adventure!
Gary Kaufman
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