The Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey Review

“How do you pick up the threads of an old life? How do you go on, when in your heart, you begin to understand, there is no going back?” laments Frodo Baggins at the conclusion of Tolkien’s epic tale and Peter Jackson’s final instalment of his colossally-successful first Middle Earth trilogy.

Try as you might, there is no perfect homecoming, no flawless reunion or return to the bliss you once knew. The trappings are similar, the sights and sounds look and feel familiar, but deep down in your heart you know that something is amiss. It’s never as good as you once ed or dared hope it would all still be.

After a decade of dispute, a lost director, numerous accolades and the best part of three billion dollars, Peter Jackson is back on familiar territory and back in Middle Earth with the first instalment of his The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Set some 60 years before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo Baggins is enjoying life in his peaceful corner of The Shire. That is until Gandalf the Grey arrives unannounced with the intention of enlisting the young hobbit in an adventure. Bilbo, of course, has no interest in such things, adventures are a nasty business he explains, and they “make you late for dinner”.

The old wizard isn’t so easily deterred though, and later that evening Bilbo finds himself playing host to a rowdy gang of some thirteen dwarves who are dead-set on tramping across Middle Earth to the Lonely Mountain. Their aim: a potentially suicidal quest to reclaim their homeland of Erebor from the grip of the murderous dragon, Smaug, “a furnace with wings” one dwarf helpfully explains to a dismayed Bilbo.

Despite his gross reservations, the hobbit is cajoled into accompanying the dwarves on their mission in the capacity of official burglar and off they go, there and back again, and again, and again… and again.

Jackson’s decision to release The Hobbit in 3 parts is a problem. The marathon Rings trilogy comprises some 1200 or so pages of dense fantasy, translating nicely into a vast nine-hour cinematic epic. By comparison, the first edition of The Hobbit clocked in at a mere 310 pages of bustling, energetic, but crucially, brief action. When Jackson announced his decision to convert the two-film project into a trilogy, eyebrows were raised with questions being asked as to how he could hope to repeat the feat and drag out his source material into three films of similar length.

The answer simply and regrettably is: he can’t; at a shade under three hours long, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a bloated and overlong disappointment. To describe its pacing and the progress of its band of travellers as “leisurely” would be an understatement of almost mythical proportions. Jackson has teased out every last strand to breaking point in an attempt to fill three hours of screen time. As early as the film’s prologue scenes, with a returning Elijah Wood providing a bridge from the first trilogy, Jackson feels like he’s pushing his luck. The unexpected party of dwarves arrives at Bag End and make themselves at home with seemingly no intention of making good on their plans to leave. Taking the better part of an hour to depart from the leafy confines of The Shire, almost every scene feels like it’s outstayed its welcome by at least a couple of minutes. This first film of three never comes close to recreating sprightly pacing or sense of urgency of the novel.

Jackson’s decision to film at an increased frame rate of 48 frames per second complicates the matter further still. By doubling the standard rate of 24 frames per second, the aim was apparently to reduce motion blur and give a greater sense of clarity during the film’s numerous battle scenes. The higher frame rate certainly does that, but it also strips away much of the usual visual gloss and “filmic” look we are used to. Actors, costumes, props and sets are all presented in an excruciating level of detail that leaves the film resembling some exceptionally expensive television show. Ironically this is never more apparent than during the effects-laden battle sequences. CGI orcs, trolls and giants are realised with a startling, beautiful clarity which succeeds only in undermining the look and feel of the film’s flesh and blood characters. Stone giants do battle atop the breezy peaks of the Misty Mountains while Martin Freeman, rubber slippers and all, cowers on a cardboard ledge. Whether this practice of filming at a higher frame rate becomes the industry standard remains to be seen; it will certainly take some getting used to.

It’s not all doom and gloom, far from it. Martin Freeman’s turn as the reluctant hero Bilbo is a superb piece of casting. Freeman’s ability to imbue his characters with an understated and modest charm has long been obvious since his work in The Office. As the conservative little hobbit with just enough courage to keep going, Freeman is engaging and witty. He does an irable job of carrying the film through its baggier moments, while concurrently building some sort of a rapport with a band of dwarves who are – for the most part – given little opportunity to shine themselves.

Freeman’s back and forth with the reliably excellent Andy Serkis as the withered and maniacal Gollum is easily the film’s stand-out sequence. Freeman is spirited yet vulnerable, Gollum a twisted and ruined multiple-personality, part malevolent and spiteful killer, part bouncing, gibbering child. It’s a scene which reminds you not only of the innate quality of the source material, but also of Peter Jackson’s ability to conjure up and juggle mischief and mayhem in equal parts. Coming as late in the piece as it does though, it’s a bittersweet moment which provides relief, but makes you wish you’d got there much, much sooner.

Without question The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will triumph at the box office and find a large audience on DVD and Blu Ray. It’s my sincere hope that with more time to digest the narrative, and the ability to watch over a couple of sittings, coupled with a return to 2-dimensions and a familiar frame rate, the film will be infinitely more palatable as a piece of home entertainment. It’s also a possibility that Jackson will follow up this misfire with two sequels of unparalleled quality. Whether this turns out to be the case I cannot say. I can only keep my fingers crossed and hope that the journey proves to be a fruitful one.