Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey * Spoilers Alert. Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.
Official 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Poster.
Long has the fans of middle-earth been waiting for the glorious moment,
when "Peter Jackson" was going to bestow us with the film version of 'The Hobbit'. And after seeing the first film of the planned 'Hobbit Trilogy', I have to say I was really pleased and relieved that it turned
out to be as expected: magical, entertaining and fantastic.
"Martin Freeman".
"Richard Armitage".
'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' is
the story of 'Bilbo Baggins'(Martin Freeman), a very curious young hobbit, who
was tricked by 'Gandalf the Grey'(Ian McKellen) to organize the gathering of 'Thorin
Oakenshield'(Richard Armitage) and 12 other dwarfs: 'Dwalin'(Graham McTavish), 'Balin'(Ken Scott), 'Kili'(Aiden Turner), 'Fili'(Dean O'Gorman), 'Dori'(Mark Hadlow), 'Nori'(Jed Brophy), 'Ori'(Adam Brown), 'Oin'(John Callen), 'Gloin'(Peter Hambleton), 'Bifur'(William Kircher), 'Bofur'(James Nesbitt), and 'Bombur'(Stephen Hunter). During this party, 'Bilbo' gets invited by “Gandalf”, “Thorin” and the dwarfs to join them on a mission
to reclaim their home and treasure, which was stolen from them by the terrible
dragon 'Smaug'. After serious hesitation, 'Bilbo' realizes that he must accompany
them and that is how 'The Quest of Erebor” started. And during this difficult
adventure, they will be helped by 'Radagast the Brown'(Sylvester McCoy) a
wizard of 'Gandalf''s order, 'Galadriel'(Cate Blanchette) elf and co-ruler of 'Lothlorein',
and 'Lord Elrond'(Hugo Weaving) the Elven Master of 'Rivendell'. However, they
will also face trolls, goblins including 'The Great Goblin'(Barry Humpries), 'Azog'(Manu Bennet) a former enemy of “Thorin”, and of course we must not forget 'Gollum'(Andy Serkis). Other characters include 'Frodo Baggins'(Elijah Woods), 'Sarauman
the White'(Christopher Lee), old 'Bilbo Baggins'(Ian Holms), 'The Necromancer'(Benedict
Cumberbatch), 'Lindir'(Bret McKenzie) an elf of 'Rivendell', 'Thror'(Jeffrey
Thomas) King of 'Durin’s Folk', 'Thrain II' a dwarf king , father of “Thorin”
and son of “Thror”.
"Ian McKellen" and
"Sylvester McCoy".
"Andy Serkis".
First of all, “THANK YOU PETER JACKSON
FOR MAKING THIS MOVIE”. (Sorry had to say it). This movie has to be one of the
best movies of this year. When it starts, you get into it very fast, and "Peter Jackson" did a magnificent job. If you are expecting a serious
tone like that of 'Lord of The Rings' trilogy, then you won't find it that much. This movie
is has a much lighter and comedic tone than the 'Lord of The Rings' trilogy. And in way I
kind of like it, since first the new trilogy will be able to differentiate itself
and second the producers will be able to give fans and newcomers new things. The
movie really brought to me the same vibe as that 'Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship
of The Ring', especially the scenes where the group was chased by goblins and in
the scenes when they were walking. And I didn’t mind the continuous references and
scenes that were related to 'Lord of The Rings' trilogy. I know some people wanted to
make these movies unique and different from 'Lord of The Rings' films. But
actually it’s a clever thing done by the writers, since it’s nice to know what
happened and what they were thinking of this ‘dark evil’ that was growing,
without getting in it too much and diverting from the film’s main point. Linking the 'Lord of The Rings' trilogy to this one. It’s
nice to mention that Peter Jackson used ’48-frame per second 3D technology’, a
new technology that was used for the first time, and you could see the difference
in picture clarity.
"Cate Blanchette", "Christopher Lee",
and "Hugo Weaving".
"Elijah Wood" and "Ian Holms".
In the beginning of the movie, when the
old 'Bilbo Baggins' start telling us the story of 'The Lonely Mountain', It was
really breathtaking. Furthermore, the way they linked 'Lord of The Rings' with 'The Hobbit' was super clever, and though bringing on 'Frodo'(Elijah
Woods) was purely business related, it was appreciated and done brilliantly.
The party scenes were really funny, and it’s nice that they tried to give each
dwarfs their fair amount of screen time throughout the movie. The trolls’ scene
could have been shorter but nonetheless important for the character’s development
and a little humor. The shot of 'Rivendell' gave me the chills and the
gathering of the wizards and elves was something that I really liked. 'Bilbo' and 'Gollum' scene was the scene that
I was waiting to see. Many wanted to see the scene being portrayed on the big screen. And the
result was spectacular and one of the best moments of 2012 and may be the highlight of this
movie to many. The last Battle scene was a ‘good’ different. It was different than the
battle scenes we saw in previous movies, but at the same time interesting and
exciting.
"Ian McKellen".
"Martin Freeman".
Turning our attention to the characters,
I was impressed by all the actors and the characters they played. “Martin
Freeman” for me was excellent as 'Bilbo Baggins'. As mentioned before, this
movie has a more comedic tone, and seeing that “Freeman” have won a Golden
Globe for playing a comedic role in “The Office” TV series, I see now why he
was chosen. And I think they did a great job in casting him. Very pleased that “Ian
McKellen” changed his mind came back to play 'Gandalf the Gre'”. He was able to
show us a more explored 'Gandalf'. “Richard Armitage”, who played 'Thorin',
was a real surprise to me. I did not think he will be able to do a good job, and
he proved all doubters wrong. He was able to show the audience the
character’s depth. The other actors who played the other 12 dwarfs were really
good and weren’t annoying; on the contrary, I enjoyed watching them. And liked
how “Jackson” tried to give each one some time on the big screen to allow
audiences and fans to know them more. Now we see why “Gimli” in “LOTR” was
funny and stood out in the middle of the movie’s serious tone. Though some of
the characters weren’t supposed to be in the movie, I really loved their
presence.
'The Dwarves'.
"Richard Armitrage".
“Cate Blanchette” was gorgeous and beautiful and as usual was spot on
playing 'Galadriel'. “Hugo Weaving” gave us a less serious, slightly happier 'Lord
Elrond', which I was fond of. “Christopher Lee” did well as 'Saruman' and
loved how they showed us how he always tries to make 'Gandalf' look bad and
tried to hide any story related to the ‘dark evil’. Appreciated that “Ian Holm”
and “Elijah Woods” returned to cameo in this film as their respective
characters. “Sylvester McCoy” as 'Radagast' was funny and also important. “Andy
Serkis” is an actor, who I will always appreciate. Just when I thought that he
gave us all he can give us as 'Gollum' in 'Lord of The Rings' trilogy, he showed me even more
brilliance. We all love 'Gollum', and he was able to dig even further into him
and show us more. For a moment forgot that 'Gollum' was computerized and really
believed he was real. Now here comes my only negative point for this film. I
loved the characters of 'The Great Goblin' and 'Azog' but I didn’t like how
they were very CGI. The same can be said for many orcs and goblins that were
present. The thing is that in 'Lord of The Rings' movies they were real, and I know that technology has developed, but I would have like if at least those two
characters weren’t too “CGIed”.
Entering the theater, I voiced my
concern, that was to leave disappointed. But proven
wrong, now I can’t believe that we have to wait a whole year for the
second movie. And the announcement that 'The Hobbit' was going to be a trilogy rather than just two due to extra footage was a welcomed announcement.
Official 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Poster.
-'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Info:
-Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Sylvester McCoy, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchette, Hugo Weaving, Graham McTavish, Ken Scott, Aiden Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Christopher Lee, Ian Holm, Elijah Woods, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bret McKenzie, Barry Humpries, Mannu Bennett, and Jeffrey Thomas. -Based on: 'The Hobbit' by J.R.R Tolkien. -Directed by: Peter Jackson. -Studio(s): MGM, New Line, and Warner Bros. Pictures. -Running Time: 169 minutes. -Budget: $ 250,000,000. -Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 303,003,568. -Foreign: $ 714,000,000. -Rating: -IMdb: 8.0/10 -Rotten Tomatoes: 65% -Metacritic: 58% -PERSONAL RATING: 9.1/10 -'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' Trailer:
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