So in the title there is talk of a journey. The film as a whole took a rather circuitous journey on its way to the screen. There was talk as to whether there would be a film of the Hobbit as the films of the Lord of the Rings trilogy progressed. This was confirmed not long after the completion of that series. There was then some toing and froing with films companies, Guillermo del Toro was going to direct, then he wasn’t. There was a fire, financial setbacks and other natural catastrophes. This was to be the first of two films and now it’s the first of three. Apparently it’s not just material from the original novel but also from when Bilbo tells Frodo about the events in the Return of the King.
The events start with Bilbo writing his memoirs played by Ian Holm, where he interacts with Frodo. We’re then lead into the story of the Dwarf kingdom being overthrown by the dragon, Smaug. We’re introduced to the fellowship Bilbo travels with, Dwarves and the wizard Gandalf, who travel on the quest to re-establish the dwarfish kingdom. On the way they meet elves, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving and goblins, led by Barrie Humphries. Whilst the dwarves were trashing Bilbo’s house it took a while to recognise James Nesbit and Ken Stott, there’s some impressive camouflage facial hair and prosthetics there. Of course as well they meet plenty of Orcs.
With the depiction of the orcs there was of course the plentiful depiction of battles. As with The Lord of the Rings trilogy we are treated to the vista of a large number of combatants going after each other with a range of weaponry. Here though we of course see the introduction of the oaken shield. One of Peter Jackson's trademarks has been these scenes and ever more has it been so, what I still find remarkable is the shots showing of hoards of orcs and goblins. Although I must admit that they all looked broadly similar and on reflection there's probably some clever trompe l'oeil that makes us think we're seeing something that we're not, well that could be a description of CGI.
I must admit as well though I did try and work out if the actors that had appeared in Lord of the Rings looked older in this film. I think in the main they didn’t, apart from Christopher Lee maybe. He does look pretty frail in this film, but he still speaks with authority with that marvellous voice of his. Ian McKellern looked a bit more crinkly around the edges, but then I suppose Gandalf should. His delivery as ever was a joy to behold. The CGI used to create Gollum was fantastic; you could see how he was sixty years younger than in the later films.
What was like as a film? Well, I was caught up with the story in the main. Apart from noticing facial hair, supposed reverse ageing, and the goblin king’s massive jowls. If I hadn’t seen the Lord of the Rings films, and read the books, I may have been lost at times. Although, great pains were made to explain the context of why they were doing what they were doing and of course how events were starting to unfold that would lead to the Lord of the Rings. It was a film of today really, did someone say bring it on? Maybe not how Tolkien would have put it. It however lives up to my expectations as a decent fantasy film that was well written. I do wonder though that when the special editions of the three films are released, and they will come, who will be able to stay awake for a day or more to watch all six films back to back?
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