The Hobbit - film review
I've seen The Hobbit (by which I mean part 1, An Unexpected Journey) twice now, so time for a review.
Overall, I loved it. I've just finished re-reading the book for the first time in many many years (and discovered I'd forgotten more than I thought I had), so that is all very fresh in my mind - but I don't have any complaints at all on that score. Films are always a bit different from their books, but I think this particular film is both different and similar in all the right ways. I had similar feelings about LOTR compared to the books - sure enough there are things missing (never mind Tom Bombadil, it's the barrow wights that would have been cool) and things altered (Aragorn's character generally, etc), but the films are wonderful wonderful things and I would barely change a thing.
Back to the Hobbit. I know people might be a bit wary about the turning of it into three films rather than one or two, but I think what PJ and co have done has made it even more wonderfully epic than it already was. I can't imagine Tolkien wouldn't approve of that - he was always expanding the world and the stories of Middle Earth with appendices and new books and tales told from different view-points. So why not elaborate a little? I believe there's a suitable quote from Gandalf when he tells Bilbo about the origin of golf in the film, but I forget the exact words (help?).
Characters
After a second viewing, I am sure that Bilbo is perfect. The first time I wondered whether he was a little too similar to John Watson, but I felt his voice coming through more clearly the second time. Martin Freeman is excellent at understated acting, and that's perfect for a hobbit.
Thorin deserves his own paragraph, being unexpectedly wonderfully played by Richard Armitage - I'll admit I had doubts about his prospective dwarfishness at first, but once you suspend your disbelief enough to accept his height he works perfectly. I can't think of any other actor who can do serious quite the way RA does, and serious is just right for Thorin.
Of the other dwarves, I can tell some apart (mainly Balin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, Bofur and Bombur) and am still having a bit of trouble with the others - some have distinct personalities but I've forgotten their name, and some have distinct names but I've forgotten which one they are in the film, if you see what I mean. I think Balin, Bofur, Fili and Kili are especially well done.
I was also overjoyed to see some of the returning characters - not just the expected ones (e.g. Gandalf), but especially the unexpected ones. It was lovely to see Ian Holm as old Bilbo, and when Frodo came on screen I must have had such a big smile on my face. And Christopher Lee back as Saruman too! And of course Galadriel and Elrond. It's a shame they didn't have a young version of Aragorn, who probably would have been at Rivendell at this time (?? unless he was in Lorien or off fighting somewhere ??), but never mind. I'm looking forward to Legolas returning in the next film, and I do rather like the look of Thranduil so far.
Azog the Defiler, the pale orc of the film, has a greatly amplified role of course... but I'm not sure that's any bad thing. He's a useful antagonist for Thorin's back story, and, well, I think his story and that of his son Bolg will play right into the original version by the end, if you see what I mean.
Plot
Great, and I liked the embellishments for the most part.
Locations
Duh.
Action
A bit fuzzy in the fast bits (I only saw it in 2D).
Bromance
I'm not sure everyone is so pleased with Thorin and Bilbo becoming buddies by the end of the film, but it made me cry so I like it. Also, I think it makes sense considering that the story is split in three - we couldn't very well have Bilbo still all miserable and his talents completely unrecognised for the whole of the first film. And in fact the recognition of his burglary will come later, as for now it's just his good intentions that Thorin has really warmed to. And really this is setting up a relationship that is already in the book, to be fair, just a bit early.
Leftover questions
So is Benedict Cumberbatch playing the Necromancer then, and not Smaug's voice? I haven't kept up with the news.
They didn't include the bit where Bilbo looks at the sherds of Narsil, or a couple of other bits shown in the original trailer that should belong to film 1, so does that mean there'll be an extended edition? :)
Where will they break the end of film 2??
---
I'm pretty off colour today, so I'll stop there. This wasn't half as much review as I meant to write though.
Overall, I loved it. I've just finished re-reading the book for the first time in many many years (and discovered I'd forgotten more than I thought I had), so that is all very fresh in my mind - but I don't have any complaints at all on that score. Films are always a bit different from their books, but I think this particular film is both different and similar in all the right ways. I had similar feelings about LOTR compared to the books - sure enough there are things missing (never mind Tom Bombadil, it's the barrow wights that would have been cool) and things altered (Aragorn's character generally, etc), but the films are wonderful wonderful things and I would barely change a thing.
Back to the Hobbit. I know people might be a bit wary about the turning of it into three films rather than one or two, but I think what PJ and co have done has made it even more wonderfully epic than it already was. I can't imagine Tolkien wouldn't approve of that - he was always expanding the world and the stories of Middle Earth with appendices and new books and tales told from different view-points. So why not elaborate a little? I believe there's a suitable quote from Gandalf when he tells Bilbo about the origin of golf in the film, but I forget the exact words (help?).
Characters
After a second viewing, I am sure that Bilbo is perfect. The first time I wondered whether he was a little too similar to John Watson, but I felt his voice coming through more clearly the second time. Martin Freeman is excellent at understated acting, and that's perfect for a hobbit.
Thorin deserves his own paragraph, being unexpectedly wonderfully played by Richard Armitage - I'll admit I had doubts about his prospective dwarfishness at first, but once you suspend your disbelief enough to accept his height he works perfectly. I can't think of any other actor who can do serious quite the way RA does, and serious is just right for Thorin.
Of the other dwarves, I can tell some apart (mainly Balin, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, Bofur and Bombur) and am still having a bit of trouble with the others - some have distinct personalities but I've forgotten their name, and some have distinct names but I've forgotten which one they are in the film, if you see what I mean. I think Balin, Bofur, Fili and Kili are especially well done.
I was also overjoyed to see some of the returning characters - not just the expected ones (e.g. Gandalf), but especially the unexpected ones. It was lovely to see Ian Holm as old Bilbo, and when Frodo came on screen I must have had such a big smile on my face. And Christopher Lee back as Saruman too! And of course Galadriel and Elrond. It's a shame they didn't have a young version of Aragorn, who probably would have been at Rivendell at this time (?? unless he was in Lorien or off fighting somewhere ??), but never mind. I'm looking forward to Legolas returning in the next film, and I do rather like the look of Thranduil so far.
Azog the Defiler, the pale orc of the film, has a greatly amplified role of course... but I'm not sure that's any bad thing. He's a useful antagonist for Thorin's back story, and, well, I think his story and that of his son Bolg will play right into the original version by the end, if you see what I mean.
Plot
Great, and I liked the embellishments for the most part.
Locations
Duh.
Action
A bit fuzzy in the fast bits (I only saw it in 2D).
Bromance
I'm not sure everyone is so pleased with Thorin and Bilbo becoming buddies by the end of the film, but it made me cry so I like it. Also, I think it makes sense considering that the story is split in three - we couldn't very well have Bilbo still all miserable and his talents completely unrecognised for the whole of the first film. And in fact the recognition of his burglary will come later, as for now it's just his good intentions that Thorin has really warmed to. And really this is setting up a relationship that is already in the book, to be fair, just a bit early.
Leftover questions
So is Benedict Cumberbatch playing the Necromancer then, and not Smaug's voice? I haven't kept up with the news.
They didn't include the bit where Bilbo looks at the sherds of Narsil, or a couple of other bits shown in the original trailer that should belong to film 1, so does that mean there'll be an extended edition? :)
Where will they break the end of film 2??
---
I'm pretty off colour today, so I'll stop there. This wasn't half as much review as I meant to write though.