The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Released: 2012

One day, a middle-aged Hobbit leaves his complacent life behind, and never again will he be the same.

(originally posted…

…

…actually, this is not in fact an older review of mine. A few years ago, I wrote all my Harry Potter reviews, along with a few other film reviews, for this website called HubPages. It was my plan that, once I was done watching and reviewing Harry Potter, I was going to do The Hobbit trilogy next. After Harry Potter though, I fizzled out with my reviews and didn’t do any more of them for a long time.

But now with the recent creation of my blog here, this seemed like a good time to resume with that. So here it is, my brand new review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Enjoy! 🙂

Let’s rewind to the early 2010s. The Harry Potter films had just ended, and it would be another several years before Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them came out. So what did a fantasy fan such as myself have to gorge on in the mean time? Well, an adaptation of The Hobbit was on the way.

I was pretty pumped. In preparation for An Unexpected Journey, I read the original novel again. I could remember parts of it from my childhood, but I hadn’t read it from beginning to end in a long time. But I am pleased to say that I thought it was pretty good, and it aged remarkably well. Kind of surreal to think that the book is all the way back from the 1930s. Definitely one of the oldest books I’ve ever read.

But anyways, onto the film. (Moderate spoilers ahead!)

Art of an adaptation

One of the biggest and most common criticisms I see about the The Hobbit trilogy is exactly that. The fact that they took a fairly short novel and expanded it into three feature-length films. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I really didn’t mind. In fact, I was even in favour of the decision. It’s a contrast from the Harry Potter films (which I still love), or even many book-to-film adaptations in general that instead have to cut out so much content from the books. I enjoyed the embellishments to the original Hobbit tale, and it’s such a charming and exciting adventure that I really can’t complain either way.

The Lord of the Rings is great too. But if there is one thing I wish had been different, it’s that I wish the ‘Fellowship’ portion of the story had been longer. The nine members of the Fellowship were a ragtag yet endearing group of misfits. However, the Fellowship was only together for the second half of the first film before disbanding, and I wish they’d been together longer so we could’ve spent more time with them.

The Hobbit, meanwhile, gives us a Fellowship-style dynamic for the whole adventure. Bilbo and the dwarves are immediately likeable and endearing. If I was to ever go out on an epic adventure of my own someday, I’d want to take these guys with me.

Another thing I like is that the individual dwarves are much more fleshed out here than they were in the novel. Granted, a bit of that comes down to it being on a visual medium and it’s easier to tell them apart for that reason, but their personalities are more distinct too. Balin, the calm elder dwarf and Thorin’s voice of reason, and Bofur, the mischievous yet upbeat and good-natured dwarf with the funny hat, are my two favourites. But I enjoy all of them really.

And then we have Thorin. Already a serious character in the novel, he’s even more foreboding here. The other dwarves have shown themselves to be a silly and lively and fun-loving bunch, but Thorin immediately stands out from the others with his quiet and somber, yet at the same time larger-than-life presence. This is one dwarf you don’t want to mess with. Although despite this, I like how it’s shown that he’s fundamentally not a bad person, and wants to do the right thing. Then again, we will see how things play out in the second and third movies.

Bilbo Baggins gets more than he bargained for

I’ve always had a fondness for road trip adventure stories and the Middle-earth saga is perfect for that. Compared to The Lord of the Rings, and even the next two Hobbit films which are darker and more serious in tone, An Unexpected Journey has an uplifting adventure feel to it.

The journey starts off pretty light-hearted. The first major danger that the party encounters, the three trolls, is still pretty goofy and comedic. There’s lots of silliness later on too when they arrive at Rivendell.

But after that, things get more foreboding. One of my favourite scenes, still at Rivendell, is only a brief moment. It’s when Bilbo is wandering through the town and comes across an unsettling painting of Sauron wearing the One Ring. Eerie bit of foreshadowing.

After Rivendell, the company boldly continues forward. Taking shelter from the storm in a seemingly-harmless cave, they soon find themselves captured and trapped in Goblin territory deep within the Misty Mountains. After a fierce battle and a desperate escape, everything culminates in a thrilling climax.

Great ending too, even if it’s just the ending of Part 1.

Stray observations

Bilbo’s home looks so cozy, especially at night. Also of note is how, despite being so irritated by the dwarves, he seems so lonely the next morning after they leave.

Also this chilling bit of dialogue:
Gandalf: “You’ll have a tale or two to tell of your own when you come back.”
Bilbo: “…Can you promise that I will come back?”
Gandalf: “No. And if you do… you will not be the same.”

A little later, but still early on in the adventure, Gandalf tells Bilbo about the five wizards; himself, Gandalf the Grey (later Gandalf the White); Saruman the White; Radagast the Brown. And he also mentions the two Blue Wizards, the only time they’re ever mentioned in any of the Middle-earth films (and they’re likewise the only wizards who never show up at all). Curiously, Gandalf also claims to be unable to remember their names. Regardless, I would’ve liked to have known more about the Blue Wizards and what they were up to during this time.

Yet another brief but memorable scene when Elrond tells Bilbo that he’d be welcome to remain in Rivendell if he wished. It would’ve been interesting if Bilbo had taken Elrond up on the offer and separated from Thorin and the others. Although many years later in The Lord of the Rings, Bilbo will end up staying in Rivendell after all.

Lastly, the cinematography is excellent all around, but there are some especially great shots after they leave Rivendell.

Well that was fun. See you again for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.