The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Review

The cinematic return to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a beautiful and entertaining adventure that reunites us with our favorite characters from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and introduces us to a great group of new adventurers.

First things first. Let’s talk about 48 frames per second. One of the biggest talking points about The Hobbit is that it is the first major 3D release to be shown at 48 frames per second, which is twice the frame rate of most 3D films. I’ve seen The Hobbit twice, once in IMAX 3D at 24 frames per second and once in high frame rate 3D (HFR).

HFR is by far the best. Whereas the images are blurry and it’s difficult to focus on the screen in IMAX 3D, typically my preferred film format, the HFR picture is crisp and clean with excellent depth of field. It takes a few minutes to get used to, but when things get hectic on screen with lots of action or drastic camera movement, it ultimately looks very good. I’d be okay with other 3D films going with the HFR treatment. It won me over quite easily.

Technical dealings aside, let’s move to the film itself. This is a Peter Jackson film through and through. After his success directing The Lord of the Rings films, he was convinced to return to the director’s chair for The Hobbit, and I for one am glad he did. Nobody else could step in and do what Jackson does. The Lord of the Rings films have a distinct style, and anyone else stepping into Jackson’s shoes would appear to be cheap imitators at best. It may seem strange that Jackson and company decided to split The Hobbit novel into a film trilogy, but they clearly have a vision for the franchise. They are very knowledgeable about J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, and they weave into this first film lots of characters and events that were only mentioned in the novel. It’s a fleshing out, if you will, of Tolkien’s novel. I’m sure that the following two films also will be fleshed out a bit.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey starts off with a recap of the ousting of the dwarves from their kingdom under the Lonely Mountain. The incredible riches of the kingdom drew attention from the dragon Smaug who laid waste to the men around the mountain and the dwarves under the mountain to claim the treasure horde for himself.

After sixty years of quietude in the lands around the Lonely Mountain, heir to the kingdom, Thorin Oakenshield, and his band of dwarves head out to reclaim their ancestral home and the vast wealth they were forced to abandon. Joining them on their quest is Gandalf the wizard and Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit from The Shire.

This first film in The Hobbit trilogy tells the story of the joining of the 14 adventurers with most of the material coming from the first one-third of The Hobbit novel. However, several characters and events that don’t appear in The Hobbit are injected into the story. These additions by Jackson and fellow screenwriters Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro tie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey closely with The Lord of the Rings films. It’s a welcome excuse to bring back characters from those films that we know and love while introducing a few new characters into the mix. It’s a proper adventure story with trolls and orcs and goblins and wargs all attacking our heroes and elves and wizards and fellowship of friends providing guidance and comfort along the way.

There are several excellent performances in the film that breathe life into its fantastic characters. Foremost among them is Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Freeman captures the spirit of Bilbo, and, indeed, hobbits in general, with his lovely performance. Bilbo is polite, as all good hobbits should be, but he really doesn’t want to be drawn in to this adventuring business. It’s not by choice that he is away from his home in The Shire, but once he finds himself in the midst of things, he does the best he can to be of use. Ian McKellen puts in another great turn as Gandalf. He plays the wise old man who can pitch in when danger requires it even better than he did in The Lord of the Rings. He is playful and smart and menacing when he needs to be. He’s just the sort of wizard you want on your side when things turn badly. It’s also nice to see how Jackson incorporated other characters from The Lord of the Rings into the new film, although I won’t spoil the who’s or how’s for you.

Despite the great cast, adventurous story, and great directing the film isn’t quite perfect. There is a lot of exposition with characters standing around giving speeches. There is lot of planning to do stuff and walking around in the film and not quite enough time spent doing things. Also, while there are thirteen dwarves in the company, only a few are memorable. Not all of them get enough screen time to stand out as anything more than space fillers. My final quibble with the film is this - although Jackson and company try to introduce real danger in the form of a white goblin who hunts the company across Middle Earth, the stakes in The Hobbit simply aren’t as high as they were for The Lord of the Rings. This isn’t a criticism of the film per se; it’s inherent in the content of the books. If Bilbo Baggins and company fail, then the dwarves don’t get their gold back. If Frodo Baggins and company fail, then the entire world is plunged into darkness under the rule of Sauron. The nature of the stories means that The Hobbit doesn’t carry the same weight as The Lord of the Rings.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a perfectly fine film when seen in its intended format – high frame rate 3D. It’s fun and adventurous, the characters and performances are great, and the action, when it happens, is fun and exciting. Plus, we get to see Gollum and Bilbo have a game of riddles, which is by far the highlight of the film.

If you are a fan of The Lord of the Rings films, then you should enjoy The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I can’t wait until next year (December 13, 2013) to pick up the trail of Bilbo and his dwarven friends in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

3.5 Stars out of 5

Do you enjoy adventuring with dwarves, or would you rather be resting comfortably by the hearth in a nice hobbit hole? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter!