Back to Middle-Earth

It's rare in Japan to have a big film playing at the same week as the rest of the world. As you may notice in my previous post, the newest Star Trek is not going to face the same fate as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey which was released at the same day in the US, December 14. My anticipation for The Hobbit was kinda so so but I didn't realize how much I wanted to see this film until Howard Shore's sweeping Lord of the Rings score started to play or until Elijah Wood and Ian Holm pops up (which the very first minute of the film). It was a return to Middle Earth. Despite the troubles in pre-production (MGM funding, uncertain release date, and Del Toro's resignation from director's chair to name a few), the film was finally made and not only one film but three films.

The story is about a dwarf named Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) who wants to reclaim his homeland, Erebor that was devastated by a dragon called Smaug. It has been 60 years and Thorin with his 12 dwarves companions and Gandalf (McKellen) were looking for a 14th companion. Enter young Bilbo Baggins, a less adventure-minded one (Martin Freeman). They started the journey to Erebor and facing obstacles and creatures such as orcs, trolls, stone giants. And for Bilbo himself, he encountered Gollum who has the Ring that could change the course of the life in Middle-Earth.

The film was about 170 minutes in length but when I watched it it feels like 90 minutes. I was expecting more so I guess the film's pace was not a problem for me. It is like when you watch the Star Wars prequels because everything ties to the superb following trilogy. I loved Martin Freeman he's just so good in his role. The newcomer, Aragorn-like Richard Armitage's Thorin Oakenshield was just super cool like Aragorn. The LOTR reunion scene in Rivendell was one of the most exciting moments of the film with the most exciting one was the one when Bilbo meets Gollum. Definitely the best scene in the whole film. The film is packed with adventure and maybe too much of them. The pattern becomes a repetition with almost three times there would be (small spoilers) a person in danger and suddenly the rest of the gang shows up (or vice versa) with Howard Shore's stellar orchestra version of the Misty Mountain song playing. And while this film is so good, it doesn't reach the high standards set by The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The stakes are higher in LOTR and the adventure was kinda more serious. Here there was too much of humor and unimportant story on the road which makes me think that this film is actually a road movie. The action scenes were superbly executed. The Wargs chase scenes were nice, and also the Goblin lair escape was cool. Peter Jackson proves that he is the king of Middle Earth. He may not only be the king but he is the god of Middle Earth. However the visual effects are not as sharp as in the LOTR trilogy and some of the scenes have that extreme lighting that kinda makes it strange. But I am still looking forward to next year's second film in the series! I recommend the people who haven't seen the trilogy should see the trilogy prior to seeing this film. But if you haven't, make sure you watch them after you watch this. This ain't Star Wars where you can watch The Phantom Menace without watching the original movies. For the story, The Hobbit is the prequel to LOTR, but for the universe, LOTR is the prequel to The Hobbit. Also I'm so proud that I could find two Indonesian names that worked on this film during the credits! Hats off to Rini Sugianto and Eddy Purnomo. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey: rated 3.5/4


I may try to watch The Hobbit in IMAX HFR 3D, so wish me luck. It's kinda hard (and expensive) to watch that in Japan. And also I'm going to do my last post which is going to be the anticipated films in 2013 (this list was used to be posted on my facebook but maybe I'm still gonna posted on facebook too). For the sake of sneak peek, on the first post of 2013, I'm going to review Les Miserables or maybe with Twilight Breaking Dawn 2. Until then, see you later!