UK release Thursday 13 December 2012
And so we are off on another quest with Peter Jackson this time following Bilbo Baggins and an intrepid band of disgruntled dwarves bent on reclaiming their lost kingdom under The Lonely Mountain. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey sets off this week and we are once again mapping the landscape of Middle Earth.
As before the special effects are breathtaking, the images even sharper. But though you’ll spend much of this cinematic spectacle opened mouthed with sheer wonder at its technical wizardry you’ll also ask: “Why did did Bilbo do it?”
Much has been written about The Hobbit, how the novel has been split into three pictures and how the writers - including Jackson and Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro - have drawn on other Tolkien material to flesh out the tale. But that’s a discussion for purists. Let’s treat it first and foremost as a singular piece of cinema.
Showtime
Events begin when apparently out of the blue Gandalf the Wizard (Ian McKellan), arranges a summit of 13 refugee dwarves at the home of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman). In an uproarious evening of drinking, singing and misty eyed nostalgia - the company, led by deposed Prince Thorin (Richard Armitage) decide the time is right to take back their beloved city from the evil dragon Smaug. Gandalf insists that Bilbo accompany the dwarves to make the group 14. Bilbo is reluctant. But after much persuasion, and sleeping on it, he decides on adventure and leaves the Shires.
And off the merry band go in search of a secret entrance to the mountain. To do this they must decode a map, which only the elves can read, face objections from the great wizard Saruman, fight off blood thirsty Orcs led by a pale giant hell-bent on revenge and battle their way out of a cavern of unpleasantly greasy goblins.
Yes, whatever your taste in myth, fantasy, sword play, plaited hair-dos and monsters from the dark, The Hobbit has them by the battalion (just as well running time is nearly three hours).
Inspired by this regiment of characters The Hobbit will no doubt serve as a monument to special effects. Filmed at 48 frames per second,as well as in 3D, the action sequences, especially the CGI, are, indeed, astonishing in their scope and ambition, packing more punch than a hungry mountain troll. And yet more mundane scenes are rendered so life-like there is a tendency to bring the action out of middle earth into normality. It’s a strange, and somewhat eerie sensation - albeit momentary.
Action afficianados will no doubt find themselves struck dumb by the sequence in the goblin’s cavern. It’s here the special affects reach their peak for my money. It begins with a scene between Bilbo and Gollum (Andy Serkis). In truth this is the only scene with any genuine suspense as the pair duel with riddles - Bilbo to learn the way out of the cave, Gollum to feast on Bilbo. But the tension is amplified by the level of detail present in Gollum’s CGI face. The panoply of tiny muscle movements, skin and hair textures, and subtle dilation of the eyes all serve to virtually remove the difference between Gollum and the live actors. But then comes the dwarves’ escape bid from the goblins. Once underway it becomes a frenetic running battle that sees the dwarves careering across a series of rickety wooden bridges fending off an endless wave of nightmarish goblins. The dwarves’ headlong crash becomes a spectacular torrent of slashing butchery. The desperate scenes, shot from every conceivable angle, present a virtuoso display of live action and special effects melding seamlessly. A fitting climax to a movie that in all honesty takes it times getting started.
Bilbo and bombast
It’s not all swords and blood axes however. There are scenes that possess surprising pathos. The unwary viewer could be forgiven for thinking he had stumbled upon Hobbit the Musical as the dwarves serve up two songs in the opening half hour, one a rowdy drinking tune, the other an atmospheric eulogy to a lost homeland. Folk is clearly big in the Shires.
Of course, the Shires’ favourite adventurer is Bilbo and Martin Freeman’s turn as the restless Hobbit is refreshing casting. His furrowed-brow incredulity is the perfect balance to the bombast delivered by Richard Armitage as Thorin. Though Bilbo does appear to have learned to talk in Slough. (Which brings me to a puzzler. Why do all the dwarves, apparently from the same city, have every conceivable regional British accent?).
The shame of it is that Freeman is not given more time to develop Bilbo as a character. Their are precious few scenes of intimacy though, when they do come, especially with James Nesbitt in the role of dwarf Bofur, there is a hint of hidden depths. Ken Stott (mostly known for Inspector Rebus) as the aging warrior dwarf Balin also lends some much needed stature to the supporting roles. But these moments are rare.
Mr Motivator
Quality actors though they all may be they can’t give the movie what it desperately needs - some motivation for Bilbo to set off on this journey. Why leave the warm, comfy home and lit out on a perilous quest with dwarves fixed on facing down a vast dragon? He’s talked into it by Gandalf for no other reason than the “world is not in your books and maps, it’s out there,” which, with all respect, is why students go backpacking to Bali. It’s not a reason for facing down monsters and creatures from hell. And with no motivation Bilbo really has no story, no arc, other than he’s along for the ride - a troubling set of affairs for the movie’s central protagonist, and strangely unsatisfying once rendered in film. What The Hobbit lacks is a testing relationship such as we saw between Frodo and Samwise in Lord of The Rings. Unless, of course, Bilbo is to develop in the next two films (already in post-production). Which would make this opening instalment possibly one of the longest set-ups in cinema history.
And if we are to have one last pop at the Hobbit it is that the perilous circumstances facing hobbit and dwarves never actually prove that, well, perilous. No matter how treacherous the challenge, the whole merry band emerges unscathed. My guilty confession? I longed for one of the dwarves to buy-it to convince me that they really were in danger. Without that it doesn’t matter how much action Jackson packs into his 48 frames, the emotional ride doesn’t come with it.
That said Martin Freeman is worth watching and the sheer technical achievement is enormous. But Bilbo lacks a story and the dwarves’ resolve needs testing. There are two more films to go though. We’ll see what happens next.
