The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Film Review

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Film Review

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Posted 2012-12-17 by Saloni Koberfollow
One of the most anticipated movie of the year, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, is the first movie in The Hobbit trilogy. Set in the same magical world that was introduced to us in the Lord of The Rings series, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, telling us the story of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins and his journey to the Lonely Mountains to reclaim a stolen treasure.



The Hobbit film has been much awaited by all for two reasons. The first being fairly obvious. After being enthralled by the first three LOTR movies, fans could not wait for another Epic from Peter Jackson. The second reason is that this movie for the very first time introduces a never seen before technology - High Frame Rate 3D. As we all know, films are just a series of images played at a speed high enough for the human eye to perceive them as a continuous image as opposed to a series of images. Traditionally movies are shot at 25 or 30 frames per second, which means 25 or 30 images per second of film. With The Hobbit, Peter Jackson has shot the entire movie with a Digital Camera that captured the film at 48 frames per second, in an effort to take film making to the next level. "Was it worth it?" is the question on everyone's lips.

Ten minutes into the film, I could already feel a headache coming on. The camera movements seemed jerky at fast. It was almost like watching a high quality home video on fast forward. However half way through the movie you do start getting used to it.

That out of the way, the movie had many positives as well. The 3D for one worked wonderfully and it was evident that the 3D element was kept in mind from the beginning and not just thrown together towards the end as is with many films these days.

Additionally, the special effects, costumes, cinematography were all superb. All the sets with the CG extensions were crystal clear on screen and they looked MAGICAL! Andy Serkis as Gollum seemed even more life like in this film that ever before. Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins was absolutely fantastic. His portrayal of the young and simple hobbit was spot on. From the very first frame, we empathise with Bilbo Baggins. He is just like any one of us, scared of the unexpected and innocent at heart. But what makes him a hero is his perseverance and determination to carry on. Watching this movie, one can not help but remember Frodo Baggins. The dwarfs were also very entertaining to watch and definitely delivered a few chuckles along the way.

There are many out there who are asking, why split a small book into 3 movies? Unfortunately, I can not comment since I haven't read the J.R.R.Tolkien books. However, in itself, The Hobbit seemed a tad too long. At parts, the story seemed to drag on and some how I did not find the story as captivating as the LOTR trilogy.



All in all, I was a bit disappointed and I think The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is only for those who have enjoyed watching the first three LOTR movies. While the negatives are not too many, they are too big to ignore and this reduced the entertainment factor. One can only hope, that the technology is improved by the next film and Peter Jackson can once again deliver another masterpiece!



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90773 - 2023-06-11 08:28:29

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