Movie Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey…runs pretty much on expected lines

Here’s the thing..Peter Jackson managed to create some magic with the Lord of the Rings trilogy, especially the finale movie (Return of the King) that I particularly liked. With the first instalment of the The Hobbit trilogy, he does pretty much the same stuff and while its masterfully presented, it just doesn’t give that wow factor by the time the credits roll

The Hobbit is not a bad movie by any standards. The cinematography is top class, the action is engaging and the attention to detail is vintage Jackson. At a glance you would assume this is another one of the sets of the Lord of the Rings itself. But the issue is – we’ve seen all this before! As an audience, we want something new and that’s where The Hobbit is unable to deliver.

The 3D presented that opportunity for The Hobbit. It had clear potential – plenty of scenes that could simply dislodge you from your comfortable seat as the wolves lunged at you or you ducked the thrust of a sword – but sadly none of that is capitalized upon. The 3D is ordinary and unless I saw this in the wrong hall, its the usual post production 3D fare. After watching a gem like Life of Pi (as far as the 3D goes), The Hobbit falls far below standard in that department. Quite a pity that. That and the comparatively weak storyline yet extraordinarily long runtime (it runs for a whopping 169 minutes, for reasons beyond my understanding) are the minor blemishes in an otherwise high quality movie

The first half of the movie is extraordinarily slow and the movie takes its time to pick up. Thankfully, once it does the action is highly engaging, though a tad too unbelievable and illogical at times. However, the wide angle cinematography and breath-taking beauty of the landscapes with a pack of dwarves scurrying about are truly worth the silver screen experience

The performances are solid from the entire cast and Martin Freeman does a more than decent job as Bilbo Baggins. Gollum when he does enter has your complete attention all the time he remains on screen and Ian McKellen plays his usual Gandalf – a role he would be all-too-familiar with by now.

The Hobbit then, has that air of familiarity and while it does nothing new, what is done is done well. I’d say its still a worth a viewing on the silver screen but prepare to spend a long time in the hall while you watch the band of little men take what is yet only the first leg of a long and promising adventure