The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is just as grand and fun
as I always hoped it would be
I’m not much of a reader. Not of novels and such at least. I
love stories that are concise and a little smaller than the average book. This
is the reason that I have always been so drawn to comics and short stories.
When I was younger I read The Hobbit for the first time. For someone like me it
was a huge undertaking, as the book tends to be somewhat slow and overly
descriptive. Never the less…I was enthralled.
The world in which Tolkien sets this adventure is full of magic and
wonder. Because of this book I fell in love with the Fantasy genre. Since the
announcement that The Lord of the Rings (2001) was being made I have patiently
waited for this film to come out. I am so happy to say that it was well worth
the wait.
Storyline: Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) is a young and reluctant
Hobbit that is perfectly happy with continuing to live his quiet life in his
hillside home within The Shire. That is until one day he is reintroduced to
someone from his past. The Wandering Wizard, Gandalf (McKellen) pays a visit to
Bilbo and soon, unknown to Bilbo, signs him up for an adventure to help a group
of Dwarves to reclaim their homeland and their gold from within The Lonely
Mountain that is guarded by the dragon Smaug. The journey is littered with
Orcs, Goblins, and a mysterious riddle loving creature named Gollum that will
change the life of Bilbo Baggins forever.
Worth the Admission? Does a Hobbit eat 7 meals a day? Of
course it’s worth it. There are going to be some people that complain about the
film. There always are. People are going to complain about the length of it, or
that the “first hour drags”, but those are complaints that are common when
dealing with films that are as epic as this one. As for the film “dragging”, this film, like
the book, is meant to display the beauty of the scenery and to take the
audience on visual journey. There is no reason to forgo the visuals in an
attempt to get the runtime down. It’s all part of the experience.
I also think that too much negative emphasis has been placed
on the style in which the film was shot. A standard film shoots at 24 frames
per second, and this film shoots at 48 frames per second. What most do not like
about it is that it takes away a bit of that “movie look” and replaces it with
visuals that are too realistic. When was being realistic or believable deemed
to be a bad thing? The clarity that this film has in unparalleled and makes the
film feel like you are along on the journey. It is absolutely stunning. And
when given the opportunity, you should see it in IMAX 3D (as I did). It is
worth the extra money.
No comments:
Post a Comment