I finally saw the movie for the first time today and made a few observations.
[Show spoiler]
As most forum members are aware, The Hobbit was originally written for children, but due to its popularity became the springboard for The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien made a superficial revision to the Hobbit story to make the Ring the unifying element with The Lord of the Rings, and wrote a more substantial chapter, "The Quest of Erebor", to be used in the LotR Appendices, but this was omitted from the final publication. Later, he attempted a complete revision of The Hobbit to give the text the same adult "feel" and seriousness as LotR, but quickly abandoned this effort. So I was curious to see if Peter Jackson could successfully integrate the story of The Hobbit into his Lord of the Rings movies and the overall scheme of Middle-earth - an area that even Tolkien feared to tread.
The result was mixed.
Prologue:
There were some excellent scenes here, but they could have done so much more. It was nice to see Ian Holm and Elijah Wood reprising their role as the elder Bilbo and Frodo, but I felt their inclusion was not vital and the time could have been more wisely invested.
The Erebor and Dale sets were simply amazing and set a high bar early in the film. And then the Elvish army appeared. WTF??? I won't even try to guess how the coming of the dragon was a big surprise to everyone; everyone that is, except the Elves who had time to assemble an army, march from Mirkwood to the Lonely Mountain, decide that they didn't want to fight - and then go home. Although the Elves in this film are more "convincing" as Elves than they were in LotR, don't put them in this scene! The reason for the discord between the Elves and Dwarves goes far back in time beyond this story, and for a much more important reason - the Silmaril, which is the unifying thread of the entire Middle-earth saga. Wrong turn, Pete! Anyway, with all of the additional material available, there is far more that could have done with the prologue.
An Unexpected Party:
For the most part this was well done. Martin Freeman is a convincing Bilbo, and of course it was great to see Ian McKellen reprise his role as Gandalf. With all of the effort expended in its construction, I was hoping to see more of Hobbiton, which was also my favorite set piece in the LotR movies. One improvement of the movie compared to the book is the inclusion of personalities for the dwarves. In the book, only Thorin, Balin, Bombur, and perhaps Fili and Kili are given any real personality. Who remembers anything from the book about Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Oin, etc.? Although Jackson's dwarves are not exactly my idea of what they would have been like, I applaud his attempt to make them somewhat interesting. Most of this section was entertaining, I enjoyed the "Chip the glasses and crack the plates" song as well as the "Far over the Misty Mountains cold" song, which apparently was the basis of dwarven theme song. There are a few parts of the book I would like to have seen included, for example, instead of the scene where Bilbo simply looks out his window, consider the passage from the book:
"He looked out the window. The stars were out in a dark sky above the trees. He thought of the jewels of the dwarves shining in dark caverns. Suddenly in the wood beyond The Water a flame leapt up - probably somebody lighting a wood-fire - and he thought of plundering dragons settling on his quiet Hill and kindling it all to flames. He shuddered; and very quickly he was plain Mr. Baggins of Bag End, Under-Hill again."
There were many details similar to this associated with the story as a result of having read the text many times (e.g. the red lamp hanging above the map table, etc.) that I was hoping to see in the extra time allotted for three films. Anyway, for the most part we are off to a good beginning.
Roast Mutton:
This was mostly a good section of the movie, but not without caveats. I enjoyed seeing the dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf riding ponies on the adventure, and the scene with the Trolls was OK, although again, it did not have the "feel" of the book. The flashback to the Battle of Azanulbizar was one of the more convincing battles, with the exception of a key character, Azog the goblin, who in my opinion looked like a bad CGI character from a video game. I appreciate the inclusion of Radagast, but was left wondering why Jackson constantly needs to over-dramatize stories, as he did in the LotR movies and King Kong, to their detriment. Would Radagast - a representative sent from Valinor by Eru [God] - have been that nutty?
A Short Rest:
The scenery here is outstanding, with 3D put to excellent use. However, the situation where the dwarves are "hunted' (?) by the orcs seemed contrived, as did the confrontation between Thorin and the Elves, and in my mind these plot twists were totally unnecessary. It was great to revisit Rivendell, although I was hoping to get the feel of "the Last Homely House west of the Mountains" as described in the book. As a minimum, I thought Jackson would give us a peak at The Hall of Fire, one of the most desirable places in Middle-earth, but anyway, we were rewarded with even more detailed exterior scenes of Rivendell than were present in LotR. The inclusion of "Figwit" was somewhat humorous, and I thought Elrond's reading of the moon-runes on the map was well done. And then, one of the big moments I had been waiting for - the White Council. Sure, it was great (and worth the price of the movie) to see Cate Blanchett reprise her role as Galadriel. But here was Jackson's chance to make some serious ties with the rest of the Middle-earth saga - that he let slip away. The White Council was a major event to decide what action to take concerning "The Necromancer", who of course was Sauron. Important characters omitted from the movie most likely would have been there: Cirdan from the Gray Havens, Radagast, Celeborn (as the "wisest of the Elves in Middle-earth"), Elrond's chief councilor Erestor, Glorfindel, etc. ...in other words, most of the roster of the "good guys" in Middle-earth. To add insult to injury, in the film version Saruman objects to taking action against Dol Guldur, which is counter to the actual story. Anyway, moving on...
Over Hill and Under Hill
Again, spectacular scenery and good CGI stone giants. The Goblin-town sequence started out good, but became bogged down in excess. At the expense of sounding like a broken record, this section is another example of needless over-dramatization. Was the "Bilbo hanging over the cliff" scene necessary? I wouldn't have been surprised if Sam showed up to rescue him, as he rescued Frodo at the Crack of Doom. And the Dwarves' series of amazing escapes from the orcs started out entertaining, but then there was more, and more, and... we get the idea. Just like King Kong, if a battle with one T-Rex is good, two has to be better, and three, well...
Riddles in the Dark
This was one of the best parts of the movie, despite the inconsistency between the finding of the Ring in the Fellowship prologue and this movie. I think Tolkien himself would have been impressed by Andy Serkis' performance. The well-acted scene where Bilbo (while invisible) spares Gollum's life, is perhaps the most important scene in the movie, as it illustrates the key human attribute of pity (compassion).
Out of the Frying Pan and Into the Fire
For the most part this was OK, although (again) the over-dramatized scene of the dwarves falling from tree to tree strained credibility. The wargs in The Hobbit are more convincing than their counterparts in The Two Towers. The rescue scene with the Eagles was my favorite scene of the movie. Although the final shot with the Lonely Mountain seemed premature, I'm not sure in what other manner the movie could have ended and still left the audience anticipating the second part.
With the exception of the dwarven theme, I felt that the musical score for this film was underwhelming. I understand that many of the LotR themes were used to tie the films together, but after a while, this just seemed "lazy".
The bottom line is that, similar to the LotR movies, The Hobbit excels when Jackson stays closer to the original text. But, despite my criticisms, I nonetheless did enjoy this film, highly recommend it, and look forward to the second part of the trilogy.
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