Original Review Link
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is not a great film. It is far from being an average film and leagues away from ever being close to what would be called a bad film. No, The Hobbit AUEJ is a very good film.
Personally, I enjoyed the extended sequences at the beginning, laying texture and setting the scene for the onslaught in the final third. Jackson treads on very familiar aesthetic and thematic territory on many an occasion sometimes to great effect (the beats of sombre reflection and the weight of the world sitting on the smallest shoulders or the most ambivalent of (the 5) wizards. But annoying weaknesses remain. The reliance on our winged friends to bail us out of a tricky situation another notable face palm in the storytelling.
Overall though, it is a wonderful romp. Think of it as LOTR Lite and you can't go wrong.
Freeman is excellent as is the always dependable McKellan. But the star of the show as with the the 2nd and 3rd parts of the original LOTR trilogy, is Gollum. Oozing emotion in a far more striking way than ever before. The expression on Gollum's face at the moment of realisation is as poignant as anything else in the film. Credit to Weta and credit to Jackson for what is overall a fantastically entertaining 1st part. Can't wait for part 2.
I rated the film 4 1/2 stars out of 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment