Review: The Hobbit

#112 - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey


The Hobbit follows Bilbo Baggins on his journey up the Misty Mountain to help a band of dwarfs reclaim the treasure that once belonged to their leader, Thorin. They encounter trolls, goblins, orcs, and storm giants, but that does not stop them from continuing on. Bilbo finds himself in trouble with a creature named Gollum when he gets lost inside the mountain and discovers a gold ring. He steals it from Gollum, which sends the creature into a fit of rage. Bilbo outsmarts Gollum and returns to the dwarfs and Gandalf the Wizard. The film ends with the dwarfs and Bilbo being carried to safety by giant eagles.

This movie is ridiculously, unnecessarily long. It's near three hours in length, and I tuned out about 15 times throughout the film. It is definitely not a film that captures my attention. That's how I felt throughout the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy as well. Peter Jackson is just not my cup of tea. I also think the CGI creatures are horribly done. I would much rather watch a scene with well-done prosthetic than watch bad CGI. Maybe they should've enlisted the help of Jim Henson's Creature Shop. I mean the trolls and the goblins are awful. The King of the Trolls looks like he has a ball sac hanging from his chin. It's horrible. I'm tired of this green screen - CGI bullcrap in today's cinema. It pushes me out of the world, and I don't follow or believe the story as much. If the animation is done correctly, a world with goblins, trolls, and orcs can be completely believable.

I also don't like the additional plot points included that were not part of the novel. The novel is great in its own rite, so I don't understand the necessity of adding the orcs story. I also think that they made the original scenes from the novel extended entirely too much. When watching this production on stage, it is captivating, but when put on screen by Peter Jackson, it's redundant. It's just fighting after fighting after fighting, and the scenes begin to blend together.

The only reason I own this movie is Martin Freeman. He's fantastic. I think they cast him perfectly as Bilbo Baggins. I was in a production of The Hobbit when I was younger, so this movie allowed me to take a trip down memory lane while watching it. I am a gigantic fan of Gollum, so my attention is 100% on the screen during his scenes. The scene when he meets Bilbo and is talking to himself in the caves is probably one of my favorite scenes in a movie ever. He's a hilarious character, but at the same time he is a very tragic creature. "If Baggins loses, we eats it whole." Gollum is an example of CGI done correctly, even though I hate CGI.

Overall, this movie is pretty good. Like I said before though, Martin Freeman completely saves the dullness of this film.


I give The Hobbit 3 out of 5 stars.