- If Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy left you wanting to see more of Middle Earth, then The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey may be the film for you. Or rather, the first film in a new trilogy, the totality of which will amount to about eight hours of runtime. Incidentally, you can read Tolkien's novel in less than eight hours, which may lead one to ask how Jackson has managed to pad things out so fully. One answer is that he and fellow writers Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, and Guillermo del Toro mine every detail, significant or otherwise, from Tolkien's works as completely as they can. The other answer is that they make things up when the mood suits them. Neither of these approaches necessarily has to be detrimental, except that the writing team also favors excessive drama and gratuitous tie-ins with the previous trilogy. Better fasten your armor, it's going to be a bumpy quest.
- Whereas Tolkien's novel launches with the pleasantly concise "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit," the film meanders for ten minutes through various eras before finally reaching a young Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) at home. There, he is visited by Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan), who selects him for an adventure. Soonafter, a dwarf comes knocking on Bilbo's door. And another. And pretty soon they number thirteen (Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Dean O'Gorman, Aidan Turner, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown), led by the gruff Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). After considerable hesitation, Bilbo makes it fourteen, although one wonders how useful a hobbit burglar will be against an enormous dragon.
- For you see, that is why the dwarves have undertaken their quest. The dragon Smaug has been roosting in their home under the Lonely Mountain for sixty years, and Thorin is determined to reclaim their kingdom. To get there, they must face trolls, orcs, goblins, wolves, and rock giants, not to mention a certain slinking character from the previous trilogy. In fact, the appearance of Gollum (Andy Serkis) is probably the highlight of the film, especially considering that it wasn't immediately clear how well his famous game of riddles would translate to the big screen. We also encounter other familiar faces from the first trilogy (Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee), but honestly all of these characters are unnecessary for the advancement of this film's plot.
- So what works and what doesn't? As with the previous trilogy, the cast and scenery are both perfect. Over ten years after the first Lord of the Rings movie, it is still the case that Jackson's vision is the definitive modern interpretation of Middle Earth, plain and simple. The soundtrack and visual effects aren't quite up to the quality of the first trilogy, but neither are they detrimental. No, the real problem with this film is its complete lack of economy. It didn't need to introduce any of the characters from the first trilogy (besides Bilbo, of course), but they're here anyway. It didn't need to spend so much time with secondary adversaries such as the orc Azog (Manu Bennett) or the mysterious "necromancer," but they too are detailed at great length. It is as if the series is constantly trying to justify splitting a short book into three profitable films. The film's excesses also include an uncomfortable surfeit of drama, as when Gandalf shatters boulders in half and dwarves ride a collapsing bridge down a chasm. I hope Bilbo exercises a bit more subtlety when he enters the dragon's lair in the next installment or else he may not make it to the third movie.
- The Great Goblin is voiced by Dame Edna! Also, Sylvester McCoy, Lee Pace, and Bret McKenzie were in this film. And maybe Benedict Cumberbatch, although it wasn't terribly clear what he did for this one.
