It just seemed like yesterday that Steven Spielberg
announced the clean sweep of “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” at
the 76th Academy Awards and like the final shot of the epic trilogy,
the door to Middle-Earth had finally closed.
However, Peter Jackson’s interpretation of Middle-Earth lived beyond his
three epic films, yet no slew of video games, Lego sets or collectibles could
quench fans’ thirsts as much as the actual movies. But after eight long years,
we’re just about there, back on the doorstep of a brand new hobbit adventure
split over two movies. Or so we thought.
The idea of two Hobbit movies has been pitched around for
years and for a while, everything was locked in place as “The Hobbit: An
Unexpected Journey” and “The Hobbit: There and Back Again.” But for countless
reasons, this duology is now a trilogy just like its predecessor, “The Lord of
the Rings.” At first glance, adding an extra film seems nothing more than a
cash grab on the part of Warner Bros. and Peter Jackson and to stretch out the
Middle-Earth brand an extra first. When I first heard about this change, it
created doubts about whether or not Jackson could capture lightning twice.
The Hobbit is a
fraction of the size of The Lord of the
Rings, yet it’s being treated with same cinematic scale. Something just
didn’t seem to click. There was no possible way that Peter Jackson could pad
this children’s book over two three-hour movies, let alone three. But what many
fans of the book forget is that while Tolkien minimizes his detailed
storytelling in The Hobbit, there
remains plenty of tiny moments quickly forgotten about in the shuffle. And
that’s just the tip of the iceberg as Tolkien’s appendices fill in the gaps of
additional history and character motivations. That being said, the
justifications of a trilogy are stronger than ever and Jackson defines modern
epic cinema, proving himself time and time again as the director who can keep
audiences entertained for over three hours without missing a beat.
***SPOILER WARNING***
Now as the first part of the trilogy, “An Unexpected
Journey” parallels “The Fellowship of the Ring” more now as a third of a story
than as a half. Like “Fellowship,” “An Unexpected Journey” is the first leg
that just gets your feet wet in the middle of the adventure, but you don’t find
yourself submerged in the full-blown terror that lies ahead. Instead of nine
companions to destroy the One Ring, we have thirteen dwarves and a hobbit out
to reclaim the Lonely Mountain. Instead of seeking counsel from the ambitious
wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee), Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) travels to
the humble home of nature-loving wizard Radagast (Sylvester McCoy).
The final trailer for “An Unexpected Journey” is what really
gives audiences a glimpse of what to expect from this first chapter and more
importantly where the first cliffhanger will roughly occur. Instead of ending
“An Unexpected Journey,” at the barrel ride which happens halfway through the
book, the first installment seems to end a mere six chapters into the story.
Those who are familiar with the book know it’s when the eagles rescue the
company from wargs. But that’s only 90 pages give or take? How can Jackson and
company take so little and stretch it so far?
Well it’s simple. The trailer also shows those little
forgotten moments I was talking about. In one particular scene, Bilbo and the
dwarves are being attacked by stone giants on the side of a mountain. I sure
don’t remember any stone giants in The
Hobbit. But it turns out that they did take on some stone giants in a
sentence, maybe two. Knowing Jackson and his marathon method of storytelling,
one sentence in the book will transform into a ten minute action sequence. And
from what we saw in the trailer, it looks like it’s going to be a fantastic
parallel to “Fellowship’s” avalanche on Caradhras. Then there’s Gandalf’s solo
subplot, which is threaded throughout the trailer without giving much away. But
many fans have been able to deduce that these are the scenes when he
infiltrates Dol Guldur, Sauron’s (Sorry the Necromancer’s) northern stronghold
in Mirkwood.
And to tie an even stronger bond to “The Lord of the Rings,”
Jackson brings back characters like Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), Saruman
(Christopher Lee) and Legolas (Orlando Bloom), who aren’t even in the book, but
still fit within the confines of the story. All this extra material is
necessary and takes “An Unexpected Journey” to the next level of epicness.
Especially after “Fellowship,” “Two Towers” and “Return of the King,” a
short-changed “Hobbit” film is the last thing fans want. Even if “An Unexpected
Journey” concluded with the barrel ride and a closing shot of the Lonely
Mountain, the three hours would’ve been sorely rushed, with little time to
develop the plot or the characters. I’m still trying to figure out based on the
footage seen so far, how are we to differentiate thirteen different dwarves,
especially if the majority of them are lacking character development.
Visually, “An Unexpected Journey” is conceptualized as
beautiful as the previous three films with glimpses of Hobbiton (that hasn’t
changed in the past decade), new secret cliffs in Rivendell, a gritty
Gobin-Town and of course Gollum’s cave where the legendary riddle game occurs.
Equally impressive is an updated Gollum, who still struggles between childish Smeagol
and his treacherous alter-ego. WETA Digital certainly has not cut corners
bringing Gollum to life and neither has Andy Serkis’ performance diminished
since his last go-around.
***END OF SPOILERS***
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” is nothing less than the
must-see event of 2012. Even if we don’t go that far along on the journey to
the Lonely Mountain as it seems in the trailer, we still have “The Desolation
of Smaug” and “There and Back Again” that will pick up the journey in 2013 and
2014. This is 2001 all over again.
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