: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
It’s been a while since I’ve read the book (I’m rereading it now) and my memories of it are blended with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so it’s a little difficult for me to compare this to the novel. In that regard, it seems they’ve taken liberties in rearranging the structure slightly, and adjusted several scenes to give various characters more weight. While these are somewhat galling to a purist like myself, I do understand why they made those changes (at least for the most part).
As an example — a slight spoiler warning here — instead of Gandalf mimicking voices to confuse the trolls, the movie has Bilbo provoking them. The conclusion is exactly the same, which is good, and it’s easy to see the filmmakers wanted Bilbo to be more heroic, but of course, that is not what happened in the novel.
That said, judging this strictly on its own merits, it’s a terrific film. The visuals are fantastic, the performances excellent, and the drama and action is non-stop. The near three-hour length flies by in about an hour. The film adds a darker tone by introducing the Necromancer (a wizard that can control the dead) and the threat he promises adds import to the quest so that it’s not just about reclaiming stolen gold from a dragon.
Of course the most disappointing and frustrating thing about the film is that it ends just as it’s getting good, and we have to wait an entire year for the next part. Arrggh! I knew that going in, and though it does end at a perfect pause point (thankfully not in the middle of a sentence), it’s still annoying. I wouldn’t be nearly so upset if part two was coming out in a few months, but a year? Still, this is definitely worth seeing sooner rather than later. (I saw the 3D version and it’s not bad, though I’m not sure the extra dimension is worth it. Other than a few arrows whizzing at you, it doesn’t make much of a difference.)
Topic: [/movie] |
