Nine years after the release of The Return Of The King, Peter Jackson’s long awaited return to middle earth is here. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey takes place 60 years before The Fellowship Of The Ring and tells the story of Bilbo Baggins, which you met in that film, and how he came to possess the ring and his journey to help the dwarves reclaim the kingdom of Erebor, their former kingdom that has been taken over by the dragon Smaug.
The film may indeed be a slow start to this new trilogy, which should be expected when introducing middle-earth and the inhabitants to new viewers, but the team behind the film really do a great job of building up the momentum for the films to follow. Some may argue that the running time of An Unexpected Journey may run a bit long, but fans of Jackson’s middle earth will most likely love that the director added to the world that the books existed in which allowed him to expand upon the original story. After you get through the first part of the movie and Bilbo finally decides to join the group on their journey, the film really picks up and begins the journey that we want to see.
Of course the film is heavy on the special effects and you can definitely tell what advances have been made since the original middle-earth trilogy. The team behind the film does a fantastic job making orcs, goblins and everything in this universe seem tangible. The sets have great detail put into them and look beautiful from the very start of the film. Action scenes in the film are breathtaking and flow perfectly. Everything in the film is just as rich in detail as you’d come to expect from it, if not surpassing your expectations.
In regards to the cast, Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins is without a doubt the stand-out in the film. He plays the role perfectly and goes on to become to kind of hero that the audiences cheer for with ease. And just like Gandalf, we put our trust in him because he gives us courage. McKellen of course returns at the top of his game as the ever loved Gandalf, who always seems to disappear and return just at the right time. Andy Serkis reprises his role as Gollum and makes the character every bit as sad yet terrifying as we saw him in the last trilogy. Serkis is really at the top of his game this time around. Richard Armitage as Thorin makes a good impression. The rest of the cast is great but no one really stands out more than the rest.
While some may leave this film unsure of Jackson’s decision to stretch two films into a massive epic trilogy, you can definitely understand why he did. The scale of the adventure is huge and had he cut the film down it may have actually have seemed rushed. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a great first installment to this new trilogy that will offer fans both new and old a quite satisfying journey. Intended to not only build the foundation for what’s to come as well as Peter Jackson’s original middle-earth trilogy and will leave you wanting to see the sequel The Desolation Of Smaug instantly, even though you just spent nearly three hours watching this film. It’s going to be a little bit before we can see how the entire story plays out but Peter Jackson’s return to middle-earth is a journey that is definitely worth taking.
Grade: 4/5