Hobbit Review!
There is a lot to cover so I'm not going to
beat around the bush: this was a great movie, it was a ton of fun to watch and
very well done, I enjoyed it immensely. Get it. Got it? Good. Also, there will
be talk of 3D and the 48 FPS. Oh, and midnight showings are the best showings.
Acting: The acting was great. Bilbo is
sufficiently Baggins-y in the first act and ends up much more Took-ish by the
last, which is great. All the dwarves were just a lot of fun to watch, whether
they were fighting or singing or making physical body-humor type gags they were
all very interesting. You might now remember which one is which, but they work
great as an ensemble cast and it’ll be great to see Bilbo work his way into
that ensemble more in the next two films. Ian McKellen did a great job, as
always, with Gandalf - especially since The Hobbit Gandalf is much younger than
the Lord of the Rings Gandalf. Here, he is much more surly and spry to fit the
role. Oh, and Radagast is probably my favorite character in the whole thing.
Music: A good deal of the soundtrack was reused
from the LOTR trilogy and I'm sure I don't have to mention how good that
soundtrack is. There are many scenes that play on the audiences' knowledge of
the LOTR and certain tracks rise and fall in a way that reflects LOTR. We have
a strong connection to that music already - we have scenes in our mind about
what certain tracks mean - and it helps link the collective lore of Middle
Earth together. I'll never forget the moments of revelation for Bilbo or the
LOTR hobbits when the Shire theme swells up and reminds us of the peaceful
homely hobbit holes that they all left in favor of hard adventure. My only real
criticism is the singing: the book has a ton of music and song as a part of the
charm, but it always felt out of place to me. They aren't musical numbers, but
characters are still breaking out into song and it is just strange to have in a
film. In a book, it makes sense as a storytelling device; in a film, you have
other story devices to use. The singing just felt a bit forced to me the whole
way through.
Direction and Cinematography: There was just so
much cool stuff going on here and I can't do it justice on paper, but here
goes. If you are familiar with LOTR, then you think you know exactly what to
expect…well, for the most part you'd be right. Most of the techniques are the
same or similar, all part of the overall style of the collective Middle Earth
universe. Many scenes are shot in a way to reference the other films and build
continuity. For example, Bilbo and Frodo have mirrored scenes when it comes to the
ring. However, there are some key scenes that I thought stood out. Minor
spoilers if you haven't read the book. The game of riddles in Gollum's cave is
beautifully shot and edited with a great sense of timing. The mood and tone swings
rapidly between cheerfully morbid and eerily threatening (partly due to the
actors, but the scene all around as well) because the camera suddenly changes
attitude to fit the feel. Also, the escape from the Goblin King was one of my
favorite sequences in recent years. The whole escape was shot at a breakneck
pace with Gandalf and the Dwarves sprinting through the vast and cavernous
underground city fighting goblins the whole way. They vault across bridges and
use some fabulous improvised weapons (a ladder, a tree, a giant boulder) and
many parts of the sequence are shot to appear like a 2D side scrolling video
game. Depth is tactfully removed to show the party sprinting in single file
down passageways in a way that is reminiscent of Indiana Jones mine-cart
scenes. Actually, there was whole lot of Indiana Jones references going on the
whole time they were underground. It was beautiful. It was just such a treat to
see a demonstration of the range of skill and technique that could be employed
to make the sequence work and visually make sense in a fresh way; the sudden 2D
shots amidst a rich 3D environment was just too cool.
Effects and Locations: Special effects were
great as always. At this point Peter Jackson has a firm grasp of knowing what
things should be CGI and what things should be real life effects. Some directors
don't know and the effects look terrible as a result (cough, Phantom Menace, cough). Here, it all looks great.
Additionally, the combination of real landscapes and CGI additions to the
landscapes was flawless. I happen to know where certain things were fabricated
because, well, I was there. Living a semester in New Zealand and getting to
know the landscape gives me some special insight about the locations and I'll
just say: Any time the landscape was fabricated (which was rare) it is almost
impossible to tell. There may have been one or two times in the theater I
struggled not to yell out: “GUYS, I’VE BEEN THERE!”
3D: I saw this film in 3D and it was great. The
3D was not used for terrify-the-audience-with-things-flying-at-them gimmicks,
rather the 3D was all about giving the film a fantastic sense of depth. When
you have huge and beautiful landscapes and enormous caverns and cities, 3D is a
great way to experience it all. There was the occasional gimmick - arrows being
shot directly at you in 3D, for example - but usually it is used for monumental
moments like Bilbo's interactions with the ring. With rare exception, if
something is coming at you in 3D it is not to scare you. For some reason though,
there was a need to have Bilbo’s buttons popp off at us in 3D during his escape
scene. But, whatever. Also, the 3D glasses are SWEET and shaped to imitate the
key to the mountain. And they come in a sweet little pouch, which to be honest,
could easily be a dice pouch. The Hobbit's PR department knows their audience
too well.
48 Frames per Second: This was a hot button
topic for a lot of people when it was announced, so let me explain. Our eyes
are trained to see screens at 24 frames per second (fps) and film has always
been at 23.97fps. It is what we're used to and what looks best to our eyes.
48fps, double that, is uncanny. We are not used to seeing humans move on a
screen at 48fps. Sure, most video games these days play at 60fps so it isn't
too far fetched, but those are animated graphics, not real people. Seeing a
higher fps on people looks too much like real life for our brains to be
comfortable. We simply are not used to it, so many people hate it. I hate it. I
cannot stand watching a show in 48fps because, to me, it hits the Uncanny
Valley, where things look so much like real life that it is just unsettling.
Our minds want to reject the fact that something mechanical, like a TV, can
replicate reality so well. Now, that said, at first this was jarring and
entirely unsettling, but after about 15 minutes I got used to it. The thing is:
this is a fantasy setting, not a real life setting, so the 48fps does a
brilliant job a representing an alternate reality - not my own reality, so it
appears less uncanny. There is definitely an adjustment period where you have
to get used to it all, but after that it is fine. Just like when the jump-cut
was introduced in early cinema, 48fps is just something that is a little
jarring to get used to but I wouldn't be surprised if it became the norm.
Plot and Lore: The plot of the film does NOT
follow the book exactly. There are some minor lateral changes and a number of
things that are added into the plot for the sake of lore. The lore of the
dwarves is shown in great detail to give the viewer a greater sense of the
overall history of the characters and of Middle Earth. Most of the changes to
the plot are fairly minor and are simply contrivances to introduce more lore
that was left out in the original text but are within Tolkien's universe. These
things mainly revolve around the Necromancer - a villainous character briefly
mentioned in the book but plays a large role in world. The changes, as I
mentioned, are lateral: everything that is supposed to happen, does. All the
main plot points are there, just some things are shifted sideways to make room for
those additional lore related events. I am very glad that this will be a
trilogy because there really is so much content to show.
Overall: This is a very fun movie and I would highly recommend it.
There are a number of fantastic and memorable moments, great action, great
physical body humor, and a very strong cast. Sure, there are some contrivances
to make reference to the LOTR trilogy, but never in a bad way. You have to
remember that this crew and Peter Jackson have the whole LOTR under their belts
already. They know how to craft a film and use that huge budget to the best
possible effect. Everything is deliberate and well thought out. When you watch
this film, you are comforted by the fact that this master storyteller knows
exactly what he is doing and you are more than willing to just let yourself
enjoy the story.
Favorite moment? In the Goblin City, the dwarves approach a bridge teeming
with goblins. Dwalin, at the front, lets out a monosyllabic grunt. SOMEHOW the
other dwarves know that this means “Hey guys, lets pick up this tree and use it
like a windshield wiper to sweep these goblins off the bridge.” And then, that
happens. I just thought it was hysterical that he just barks a non-word, and
everyone is just like “Dude, we know exactly that that means we gotta just do
the most badass thing we possibly can right now. We got your back. Let’s do
this.”
9/10
- Jay
