for the love of the macabre

A Review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

When I heard that The Hobbit would be coming to the silver screen to say that I was excited is a bit of an understatement. I read my careworn copy of the book and counted the days until I could join my friends in their search for the golden horde in the lonely mountain. That may be why I was so disappointed with this film.

This 2hr and 40+ minute film is chock full of little things that irk the hardcore hobbit fan, not to mention there was probably an hour and a half of material that didn’t appear in the book at all. While I could understand where this extra material came from, most of it I felt was unnecessary and detracted from the film to an extent. That being said I could’ve accepted that material if they had just stuck closer to the book for the parts where we are with Thorin and Co. Instead Bilbo’s original personality is tweaked, and in a way I don’t necessarily think is for the better. Of course the dwarves are also different, taking up arms at every opportunity. Okay, I get it, we need more fight scenes! At the expense of the dwarves personalities!! When the film ended at 3am I felt like it had just started and we hadn’t gotten very far on our journey at all.

Of course there were the redeeming qualities: The acting of Ian McKellen and the others was top notch, the beautiful scenery and animation (including a grotesque Goblin king, and beautiful giant eagles) was to die for, and of course all the small details that make you say “Wow!”

I suppose that for the casual Hobbit fan this is a must see, if you don’t nitpick then I’m sure it’s a much better film. For me however, this film left a lot ti be desired. Frankly, it depressed me! The events of the book are strong enough that they could’ve stood on their own! At least I have the Rankin/Bass cartoon, not perfect either, but much closer than this.

2 notes / 6 months ago / Reblog