Middle Earth has been one of the great cinematic creations of the new millennium. When watching the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) Trilogy, you instantly felt transported to a different time and place filled with majesty, grandeur, and larger than life adventures. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a reminder of just how unique an achievement Middle Earth is. Despite its uneven pacing and lack of compelling characters for a trilogy, the Hobbit does take us back to a place that can only be truly experienced on the big screen.
The Hobbit takes place 60 years before the Lord of the Rings. Told in flashback by older Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm), he writes his book about the adventure his younger self (Martin Freeman) took. Young Bilbo is recruited by Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), a wizard, to be the 14th member and burglar for a dwarf contingent led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). The dwarves are attempting to reclaim Thorin’s old home, which was overtaken by a dragon called Smaug (this is told in flashback while not spoiling the dragon’s appearance). Reluctantly, Bilbo leaves the safety of the Shire for this journey; on the way, we will learn how this adventure turned him into the Bilbo we meet at the beginning of the Lord of the Rings, including how he obtained the one ring.
The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings are inexorably linked. Director Peter Jackson has a tough task; he has to make the Hobbit its own story while paying homage to the Trilogy that will make him famous. As a result, he adds material from Tolkien’s other works to tie the Hobbit in to a larger picture and not make it a self-contained story. What Jackson doesn’t realize is that the core parts of the Hobbit that link to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy are more than enough to tie the two stories together. Jackson uses the new scenes as an excuse to bring back LOTR characters like Elrond, Galadriel, and Saruman to talk about the darkness closing in around them. The Hobbit’s overall tone is much less dark than the LOTR, and these scenes distract from the Hobbit’s central story and pacing as well as do a disservice to the dwarves that need some desperate character development. That being said, there is a scene involving Bilbo, Gollum (Andy Serkis), and riddles that is central to the Hobbit and ties nicely with the LOTR series. That scene is the highlight of the Hobbit, bringing back a favorite character as well as establish who Bilbo is and what he is to become as a person. It is ok for Jackson to tie in the LOTR series to the Hobbit, but only if it involves more subtlety and service to the main adventure.
Unfortunately for Jackson, the Hobbit just doesn’t have as many compelling characters as the LOTR. The dwarves in the book are not well-developed, except for Thorin. As such, Jackson tries to highlight the central players as well as peripheral characters to see what works. Thorin’s orc nemesis gets a Saruman-like arc being a good secondary villain and the goblins and trolls in the Hobbit can speak giving them personalities. Unfortunately for Jackson, these scenes are usually minor, and leave the dwarf battalion to be carried by Thorin, Bilbo, and Gandalf. The big 3 are up to the task in the first entry, but the gluttony of interchangeable dwarves will yield diminishing returns as the trilogy runs on.
Andrew Lesnie. Dan Hennah. Simon Bright. Ra Vincent. No, these are not the dwarves in the story. These are the set and production designers, art directors, and cinematographer: the real stars of the Hobbit. Right away, I was transplanted back to the Shire and Middle Earth, and each set is given ample time to be taken in and absorbed. The Goblin lair is a truly amazing intricate underground cavern of ladders and staircases. The Forests are living breathing organisms, and Rivendell never looked more Heavenly. Without these men, the unexpected journey would have no momentum or gravitas (even in 2D, which I saw it in).
Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage have big shoes to fill. They must make sure they do service to Middle Earth. Even worse for Freeman, Frodo’s stakes were much more dire and urgent, making his situation much more heroic. Bilbo’s story is more about his coming of age: how you have to learn that there is greatness inside you that you do no know of. Freeman is very good at playing characters in over their head, and is thus perfect for young Bilbo in the first leg of the Hobbit trilogy. The big scenes at the end (the riddle and speech to the dwarves) put Bilbo front and center, and Freeman nails them. I’m worried about how Freeman will handle Bilbo’s evolution as the story continues, but I am certain he will figure it out. Richard Armitage assumes the Aragorn/Legolas role as Thorin. He is equal parts regal and determined, but has a stubborn side that Armitage can hopefully use to his advantage over the story to keep Thorin compelling. The rest of the dwarves lack any real impact; even Ian McKellen, despite his wisdom, looks like he is going through the motions in this picture. The acting highlight, yet again, is Andy Serkis. In one scene as Gollum, Serkis differentiates this version from the one we see in LOTR. In LOTR, Gollum was a more desperate figure. Here, the scene where he loses the ring he goes from panic to anger to fear to disappointment in several looks, while still performing his bipolar disorder with ease. I consider the riddle scene the passing of the acting torch from Gollum to Bilbo, and hopefully Freeman can carry a scene with Serkis’s magnetism.
When An Unexpected Journey ends, it feels like we left behind our ties to LOTR and are now at the start of a different journey. This distancing will hopefully help Jackson make the Hobbit a different entity. With Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage at his side, Jackson is ready to showcase how well he can create a CGI’ed dragon for them to do battle with to reclaim the dwarves home, ring and all. An Unexpected Journey is the welcome return to Middle Earth, a Christmastime present I long forgot. Thanks to the Hobbit, I now look forward to spending the next two Christmases with Bilbo Baggins and Thorin Oakenshield. Just make sure you say goodbye to Gollum.