The Hobbit : An Unexpected Journey / Movie Review

You may ask, why is that I like every movie I watch? Is it because someone is paying me to write good reviews? No sir, I am a humble blogger with no strings attached. I only review those movies that I actually like. And I do read a critic’s take on the film, but I don’t let my decision be guided by them. So the fact that they say Peter Jackson is at it again – a 3 hour movie with gory deaths and one which is much like LOTR, with the technologically revolutionizing 48 frames per second giving the movie a plastic-y effect does not hold much ice. All, I would like to advice them is to zip up. Mediocrity can’t handle geniuses too long! Nor can they bear their successes!!!! Why, the other day they were at the neck of J.K. Rowling for writing ‘Casual Vacancy’, one hears that she might have got Booker had she not written Harry Potter prior to that.

I would advise you on the similar lines (of course, following it or not is upto you). Don’t listen to the whiners, if you indeed want a great weekend blockbuster, ‘Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey’, is everything you can ask for!

Lord of the Rings didn’t come in 3-D, while Hobbit indeed did. You may think this to be a moot point, but the panoramic vistas that we enjoyed in LOTR are all the more enhanced by the wonderful 3-D experience. The fall of the dwarves at the hands (talons!) of Smaug the dragon, battle with the goblins, the caves, the fight of the Mountain Stones (yes, indeed), the flight of the eagles, the water fall, Hobbiton, Rivendell – it looks beautiful in 3-D and 48 fps.

I and my brother were jumping in our seats with excitement. I must say, I was a bit apprehensive about how the movie would turn out as book by JRR was indeed short. And to have a movie that’s 9 hours long….

But the Doubting Thomases in me pulled out the moment the movie started – there indeed are no loose ends in the movie. A tight-paced rollercoaster ride with beautiful scenery and grotesque villains (orcs, goblins, trolls!).

But in the end, who indeed takes the cake? You guessed it right, it’s Gollum!! Just in the book, the part where Bilbo and Gollum trade riddles (one for getting the hell out of the never ending caves, other for making the morsel out of the other!) is indeed spine-chilling.

Bilbo (Martin Freeman) connects with the audience (“We have to go back, I forgot my handkerchief!”), Gandalf (Ian McKellen) is at his usual best. Watch out for Thorin, the leader of the Dwarves under the Mountain (Richard Armitage) – he is regal, silent, a bit snobbish and burning with revenge! And you have a surprise waiting at Rivendell!!!

Let pseudo-purists whine! Don’t let them guide you, because though ‘Hobbit’ may have received underwhelming response from the critics, this movie is indeed going to make your heart chase butterflies…

 Related articles

• Nine reasons why I enjoyed “The Hobbit” (carlmccolman.com)
• A Review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (magnaefamae.com)
• “In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit…” (misternizz.wordpress.com)