The Hobbit
There are mixed emotions about the movie I am about to get into. Whether a Critic likes or dislikes this movie, the Trolls shall be waiting to throw their misspelled insults, bones, and rocks at me and I am ready for it. Peter Jackson has been getting a lot of flack about his choice to shoot this in 48 frames per second and I completely understand why. Things move a little faster than audiences are used to and the best way I can describe it is Watching the Hobbit is like Watching a ridiculously overproduced play. Which is not bad in a way. Let us get into the review of The Hobbit.
Cast and Crew
OK so The Hobbit is Directed by Peter Jackson and stars a ton of memorable faces from middle earth. The movie stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo Bagins, Frodo's uncle and the original bearer of the Ring of Power. He is supported by Ian McKellen, as Gandalf The Grey, and Richard Armitage who plays Thorin, King of the Dwarfs. There are plenty of other Dwarfs and cameo characters however the story focuses on these three and their character development. Peter Jackson is known for his tremendous contributions with the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and King Kong. Martin Freeman is known more for Hot Fuzz, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and The Sherlock BBC Series. Ian McKellen is Gandalf and Magneto....now stand up and clap fellow nerds !!!!
Story
The Hobbit was a 300 page book and it is the shortest of Tolken's books that take place on Middle Earth. This will be a series of 3 movies and there is a bit of embellishment in the story and I feel it is only to connect The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings. I have to say that I like Peter Jackson's ability to connect these stories because The Hobbit is its own story. If the movie were presented in the same format as the book, there will be many confused film fans out there. So this is the Story about how Bilbo Bagins becomes the Richest Hobbit in the Shire and comes across the Ring of Power. Gandalf the Grey sees qualities that Bilbo Possesses and is unaware of and coaxes the Hobbit to come along an Unexpected Journey across middle earth to be a stand in Thief for a band of dwarfs lead by their king Thorin. Thorin is an intense dwarf seeking to reclaim his land from a Dragon that laid waste to their city and took rest on their gold. Peter Jackson was able to take a story about grabbing gold from a dragon and apply a great amount of emotion to the characters wishing to embark on this journey. We are also introduced to an insane cannibalistic Gollum. The scene including this character is incredibly tense and emotionally charged.
The Presentation
There is a big controversy about the 48 frames per second shooting technology that was used to make this film. So it is time to address the elephant in the room... No the 48 frames per second is not horrible, but yes, the frame rate is a distraction. in 48 FPS, the movie flows...differently. As I said earlier, it looks like you are seeing a very well produced play. Another way to describe it is its like looking at a camcorder recorded video that was very very clear. Things move quickly and you somtimes feel like you are watching a movie with a very slight fast forward but you do get used to it. The clarity of the shot does make costumes look like costumes and the surroundings look like a movie set. The best way I can explain this is to tell you to get a 90s movie on blu ray, you will notice the resolution is cleaned so well, that you can see the artificial surroundings stand out. The CGI is great. Jackson is a great visionary director so you don't have to worry about super fake looking creatures. I would like to say that Orcs did look better when they were people in makeup, this movie has full CGI Orcs, witch did not look bad, but just not as good as the original trilogy's creatures . Overall, Middle Earth looks beautiful and while I have my gripes, the movie still is presented well. For those of you that complained about the pacing, please stop. The movie had fine pacing that I feel was important to the character's development. There were 11 Dwarfs and a Hobbit that had to be introduced and they were introduced well. While the Focus stayed on Bilbo, and Thorin, I feel the others provided a balanced amount of comic relief without being too over the top and cartoony. I know that many complained about the light hearted nature of the film but seem to forget that the Hobbit was a children's book. Peter Jackson wittingly took a kids story and turned it on its head to match Lord of the Rings without taking too much creative licence and I have to commend him for it.
The Rating
Ok while The Hobbit may not have been as deep or as enthralling as the epic
Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the movie was a great into piece to
the story that it is trying to convey. The book was not a Lord of the Rings: 0, in
fact, the book doesn't answer any questions about the rise of Sauron...guess what ? The
movie looks like it is trying to tell that story, and that is very intriguing to me. I have say , since the
frame rate was a small issue to me on action scenes , The Hobbit is just,
Great Tasting
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