First a couple of disclaimers: I’m not a movie critic in any official
capacity whatsoever. I’m not up on the
latest art house indie darlings, nor am I a huge contributor towards giant,
explosive, karate-alien-super-soldier-villain-turned-hero summer blockbuster
films (in 3D!). I’m just a guy who likes
movies and likes the movies he likes because he likes them. Period.
I also was late to the party that was thrown (and apparently boycotted
by some) when Peter Jackson announced that The Hobbit would be filmed at 48 fps
therefore ushering in an entire new movie industry while the rest of us 24
framers just sit at home and watch our Hi-8 home movies until we cry. A co-worker actually informed me of this
newest controversy which I ignored since I live in a city that apparently isn’t
capable of even showing the film at such speeds.
Even though
I hold no degree in film, film making, or film history one thing is true: I,
like most people, love movies. As I
stated before, I like what I like because I like it, but before I say whether
or not I like The Hobbit allow me to explain what I was thinking before I paid
a visit to the box office.
A trilogy
Mr. Jackson, are you for real? I’ll give
it to you. I’ll give it to you that the
first three movies, which I was at the midnight showings for (that’s the night before regular people woke up) were
pretty amazing. Yes, I was a card
carrying member of the Lord of the Rings fan club. I read the books, I watched the movies, I
bought the DVDs, then I turned around and bought the extended director’s cut
special edition DVD boxed set with another hour and a half’s worth of movie…and
then I watched the special features. I
was that guy though I drew the line
at dressing up in costume. That never
happened. Even so, I was pretty happy watching
the academy awards after the final LOTR had been released and the Academy
pretty much gave LOTR every award there was unless it had to do with
acting. Sorry, but that’s the
truth. I remember thinking as the
credits rolled at Return of the King that yes, The Hobbit should be next.
My
apprehensions came when I learned that it was going to be two films. Having read the book I thought that two films
was a bit of a stretch. I mean, it has
been a while, but I remember the book being a fairly easy read with simple
language and a fun undertone; obviously meant for kiddoes. So, how exactly will he stretch this into two
feature films? I equate it with adapting
Goodnight Moon into a full fledged television series. After realizing that Mr. Jackson never asked me
and that when it came down to it the two-part-er has no bearing on my life, I
moved on, got over it, and forgot about it.
Until I
learned he was going to make it into three movies. Okay, hold up. A trilogy?
You mean, like three big long movies-epic ones-like LOTR only a prelogy
to LOTR? After learning about the
planned trilogy the whole idea became a giant money-grab for me. Just another way for Jackson,
Hollywood,
Warner Bros., etc. to pad their pockets and fill the theaters with fluff and
feather and leave the pillow fighting up to the viewers and critics to figure
out if it was all worth it, knowing all the while that for us to find out if it
is worth it we’d have to pony up the money first. In fact I wouldn’t have seen the film at all
had it not been for my oldest son who was really excited about it. Soon enough I found the two of us paying for
tickets and walking into the theater.
Since I had
pre-conceived thoughts of the entire franchise being a money-grab I opted out
of the 48 frame per second edition and the
3D. Good ol’ fashioned 2D and 24 slow
frames per second for my old eyes.
Therefore I can’t give a report about the picture. Even if I had seen it at the faster rate I
don’t know enough about the subject matter to give any voice to it anyway. What I do know is that it was nice to start
at the film’s ending and at the beginning of the first. Meaning it was nice to see the old Bilbo
Baggins and Frodo again, if nothing else for nostalgia’s sake. Seeing familiar faces at Bag End before Frodo
began his own adventure coupled with a soundtrack that I did fall in love with
stirred up that old excitement of the first films within me and truly made me
want to go home and watch the old films again.
It’s like coming across a photograph of yourself with your arm around
the neck of an old friend, and being reminded of all the great fun you had with
them, then missing them. Once the film
starts you have to suffer a little back story beforehand that helps you put
into perspective the reason why these dwarfs need to take back their mountain,
but as soon as that big round door comes into view it seems that all the mayhem
of before and all the darkness that is yet to come years down the road doesn’t
even matter; if Frodo and Bilbo are content with their simple lives, then so
too am I.
In
hindsight, I realized that 45 minutes of the movie passes before Bilbo even
begins his journey to the Lonely Mountain, but I really wasn’t bothered by it because
spending time in Bag End is like when I take a trip home to South
Louisiana. There time sort
of slows down and I’m forced to sit back and just listen to the wind. One can never spend too much time in Bag End,
like the good ol’ South I’m sure the food alone is reason enough to never leave. Of course if two more movies are soon to come
after this one then yes, eventually Bilbo must be off on an adventure of his
own, and so the movie’s momentum finally begins.
Like the
other films that came before it, The Hobbit doesn’t really slow down once the
adventure starts. Of course the parts
that are my favorite are the parts I remember from reading the book, namely the
goblins that turn to stone and of course Gollum deep inside the cavern. That isn’t to say I haven’t got new favorite
parts, such as the meeting between Gandalf, Elrond, Saruman, and Galadriel; and
the moment in which Bilbo saves a life.
For me the entire film is a journey back to the places I loved
before. Seeing them again on the big
screen while new characters-along with a couple of older ones-travel them is
just as fun. Each scene is beautifully
photographed as before and Martin Freeman’s portrayal of Bilbo is spot on. As an audience member you are never quite
sure if Bilbo is in or out. At one
moment he is the hero he is told to be, another moment he is the coward he
knows he is. Which direction he takes
seems to change by the second and even Bilbo himself seems surprised to have
made it as far as he has once the last shot goes dark.
In
preparing to write this review, I read some reviews of my own, just to get a
feel for what was being said, and to educate myself a little more about the
hype surrounding the film and its touted 48 fps. One critic noted that by the end of the movie
he was all in. I have to admit that the
filmmakers’ hinting at the dragon that is just waking up inside the mountain
underneath its own mountain of gold and treasure was a perfect way to end the
film. I found myself siding with the
critic as I debated what I really thought about the movie. Is it a money-grab? Yes, it most certainly is, but it can be
argued what isn’t a money-grab in Hollywood
these days? Is it overkill? Yes, and so were the extended director’s cut
special edition DVD boxed set that I bought of LOTR, and loved every minute of
it. Do I like the film? The answer may not be as obvious as The
Hobbit’s predecessors, but if the next film serves up a halfling facing down a
fire breathing dragon then the answer is a definite, “Two tickets,
please.”
