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Over the years, one consistent curse of Hollywood has been the endless exploitation of successful franchises, dragging beloved movies and characters far beyond their ideal life spans and ultimately tarnishing the effect of the original. Star Wars is a principal example of how a trilogy of wonderful adventures can be tainted by the studio necessity to delve deeper into the story (or as it’s known to studio executives, milking the cash cow) and ultimately this leads to the magic of the originals being dimmed. The Star Wars prequels immediately came to mind upon hearing the announcement that the film adaption of J R R Tolkien’s novel The Hobbit was to be split into a trilogy of films and this made me nervous. A late comer anyway to The Lord of the Rings I certainly didn’t want the films to be tarnished by a studio desire to maximise profits, but rest assured, Stars Wars prequel The Hobbit is not.
Peter Jackson has already vividly expressed his loving homage to Middle Earth in the LOTR trilogy and once again his passion and energy towards the project is obvious from the get go here. The use of revolutionary 48 frames per second camerawork may have been met with muted enthusiasm earlier in production but in 3D it has found its home, the imagery and colour of the Middle Earth scenery bought to the viewer in breathtaking realism adding another dimension and in many ways more scope to the now familiar epic story of the shy little hobbit Bilbo Baggins. The titular character being portrayed by Martin Freeman (of The Office fame) in a role he seemed born to play. The awkward but resilient nature he depicts through Bilbo exemplifies all that is so important about the hobbit race to the overall story arc, small in stature but big in heart and no doubt his portrayal will become an iconic character in modern cinematic history. It already feels as if Ian Holm’s elder Bilbo from LOTR grew out of Freeman’s performance and that is quite an achievement by both actors perfectly cast to the character by Jackson.
As a whole the film doesn’t have the slow building start felt in LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and this is in part due to the confidence of director, cast and indeed audience that we are merely revisiting a beloved memory rather than having to adapt to a new concept. To put it bluntly it is as if we never really left Middle Earth and while there is a mixture of old and new with regards to the characters we follow, the journey they undertake is now a welcome and familiar cinematic experience for us all. Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf and is consistent throughout the film, his portrayal as the one continual throughout all the films is as settling to the audience as it is exciting. The new band of Dwarves who take Bilbo on his journey look set to add a light-hearted and more comical dimension to the franchise and more than make up for the loss of Frodo and his loyal if hapless Hobbit companions, while the Orc antagonists ensure tension and continual conflict to our heroes which is a much enjoyed returning aspect of the franchise as a whole.
One of the most memorable aspects of LOTR which audiences eagerly await in The Hobbit from the first minute is the return of the charismatic Gollum, a CGI revolution over a decade ago which still resonates with audiences of all ages. Andy Serkis will forever be known for this portrayal and this fact is less a hindrance and more a welcome embrace from the actor, who once again threatens to steal the show with his depiction. The Riddle game in the cave brilliantly exploiting the contradicting persona’s of Gollum in a humorous but dark manner which provides the audience a foundation of what to expect from his involvement in the trilogy. Smaug the Dragon may not have played a central role in this film but he will in the trilogy and from the Jaws like snippets of the dragon the director allows us, it is clear to see another CGI masterpiece could quite easily define this prequel trilogy.
Overall, The Hobbit offers up all we have come to love and expect from the fantasy world of LOTR under the stewardship of Peter Jackson and while only a 1/3 of the way through, promises much more to come which could easily match or better the epic trilogy it leads towards. One criticism from me would be the over reliance on comic moments at times and this in my opinion isn’t needed, the brilliance of LOTR being its ability to unite light hearted comedy with a darker, grittier epic tale of tragedy and sacrifice. However I am in no doubt that The Hobbit exceeded expectations, a feat not lost on the audience who burst into heavy applause at the credits (no easy achievement to gain from modern cinemagoers) and barely takes a bite out of the wonderful story which will no doubt explode and unfold in the next two chapters under a director who seems totally at home amongst this fantasy world of hobbits and wizards. In short, go and see this film!
Rating: 4 Jakes (the elusive 5th I'm confident will return in the 2nd instalment)
By Jake Roche
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