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| Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) |
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey begins similar to how Fellowship of the Ring began, with an old Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) recalling his youth as he writes a book for his relative Frodo (Elijah Wood). It was nice to have the film begin like this, as it's instantly familiar to fan's of Jackson's other series. A transition soon occurs however, which transports the viewer 60 years into the past, where a much younger Bilbo is played by the aforementioned Martin Freeman, who meets a reasonably younger Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) for the first time. Gandalf proposes an adventure to Bilbo, who is quick to decline his offer. It was nice to see how different Bilbo is to Frodo, as Frodo's anticipation and sense of duty is replaced by apprehension and the want to remain safe. Bilbo Baggins eventually (after persuasion and time to think) agrees to go on a journey to the Lonely Mountain accompanied by a group of Dwarves and Gandalf himself in order to reclaim it from a dangerous dragon by the name of Smaug.
Very early on, An Unexpected Journey separates itself from Lord of the Rings by being considerably more child-friendly. This is expected, as the original book was intended for children, it's just slightly jarring to go from watching the decapitation of orcs and vast battle scenes, to a group of trolls arguing over how to cook Dwarves. Not to say that this film lacks entertaining fight sequences, and indeed the Lord of the Rings was occasionally humourous, but the first Hobbit movie lacked the epic sense of awe featured in it's predecessor's / sequel's (depending upon how you look at it) trilogy. A wizard named Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy) for example, seemed mostly as if he were included solely to appeal to younger audiences, which isn't really a huge issue considering the original intended audience, but it makes it difficult to engage with the film to the same extent as previously.
An Unexpected Journey did have many things working in its favour however. As mentioned, Martin Freeman is the perfect choice for the character of Bilbo. The rest of the cast of Dwarves all play their roles to an entertaining standard, especially the leader of the group Thorin (Richard Armitage), who has been personally wronged by the dragon Smaug. Sir Ian McKellen does not falter once as the wise wizard Gandalf and is just as enjoyable to watch as in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and there are other numerous appearances from familiar characters such as the leader of the elves, Elron (Hugo Weaving). The stand-out for me is definitely Gollum (Andy Serkis), who looks even better than he did in Return of the King thanks to 10 years of development in CGI. The scene shared between Gollum and Bilbo playing riddles in a cave is easily one of my favourites in the whole movie. There are numerous references to things that are present in Lord of the Rings as well, such as Bilbo being given the sword that Frodo carries in Fellowship of the Ring. The consistent nods to future plot points which are littered throughout the movie appeal hugely to anybody who has seen the original trilogy.
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| Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) |
Verdict
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey lacks the same scale as the Lord of the Rings, but it successfully sucks the viewer back into the world created by J.R.R Tolkien and sets the story for the next two movies in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy. Despite it's few flaws, it is still a hugely entertaining film which has been created to appeal to a large audience, and has made me very excited to watch The Desolation of Smaug very soon.
"I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure."
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