The travesty in Connecticut this weekend sent the world into a dark and horrible place where young, innocent lives were snuffed out for no good reason at all by a mad, delusional, gun toting, cowardly monster .
These sort of tragedies are starting to occur a little more often than they should. Those of us who may be more open to the worlds of the fantastic would akin it to the rising of Sauron in J.J.R. Tolkein's fantasy series, The Lord of the Rings.
After wallowing in the sadness of Friday afternoon, I found I wanted to escape reality for a while. Having had a pretty heavy work week, I almost forgot that Peter Jackson's magnum opus prequel to his Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, was opening that day. I decided to treat myself and go see the 3D showing of the movie.
At the last minute I was lucky enough to find a single seat in a showing that was nearly sold out. I didn't fully intend on seeing the 48 fps / 3D showing, but it was the earliest showing I could get into and I didn't want to be stuck waiting in the theater's bar for over three hours before the next available showing.
I'll try and make this brief and spoiler free as possible.
Let me hit upon some of the issues that have been brought up in many other on line reviews. First the whole 48 Frames Per Second "issue" that was brought up a few months ago after theater owners were shown some footage and didn't like it at all.
Truth be told, it's not an issue. The film looked pretty darn good! Almost lifelike without it turning into a whole Sid and Marty Kroft Productions type look. It was snappy and crisp with the 3D adding to it's grand visual vibe. I had no problems with it. It still retains a film feel, but not nearly as much as the previous Lord of the Rings (LOTR) movies did. Some may take issue with that, but it took nothing away from me.
Second, no, this isn't quite the same feel as the LOTR trilogy. It still has the same settings and set decor look that LOTR had, but the story felt a little more rushed. A hell of a lot was thrown into the two plus hours of the film. There was a slower cadence in the LOTR that seems to be missing here. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing. Just different.
Third, I didn't feel quite as emotionally invested in the characters as I was in the last films. Don't get me wrong, Martin Freeman is a delight as Bilbo Baggins and Richard Armitage is kickin' ass and taking no prisoners as Dwarven king, Thorin Oakensheild. And of course Andy Serkis is phenomenal as Gollum, especially in the pivitol "quiz" part of the story. It may be the fast pace that takes over the movie in the 2nd half that may have something to do with it. It may also be that you have to concentrate on a group of twelve dwarfs as opposed to a few hobbits. I have the feeling that we're in for more character development in the next two films (The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again).
Fourth.... CG'd Orcs. This was really the only big thorn in my side about the movie. I'd pick an actor in a rubber orc suit to play the main villain over an obviously computer generated one any day. It ends up looking like a character who should have been in Brave rather than The Hobbit.
It may sound like I really wasn't into the film. But, nothing could be further from the truth. I thought that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was an excellent film and just the right ticket to get my mind off of the horrible events that occurred earlier that day. At least for a little while.
If you loved The Lord of the Rings trilogy of films, you will also love The Hobbit, but perhaps not quite in the same way. If you're a fan of the novel and you are someone who has read it many times, this film will be pure magic for you as Jackson and the other script writers have gone well out of their way to make sure that there are pivotal scenes and little nuances that you will recognize and love.
I can tell you that when the film came to an end the audience applauded with enthusiasm and I pretty sure I heard an actual "Squeeee!" of joy come from someone in the theater. Deservedly so.
Much like the LOTR trilogy always leaving me wanting more, this film left me excited for next year's sequel, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. If we can make it through that whole Mayan end of the world thing this coming Friday, we're in for a real treat next X-Mas as well as the 2014 holiday season.
I'm not sure that I'll be posting on or around the Christmas holiday, so if I don't.....
HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY X-MAS!
And if you have little hobbits running about in your home, be sure to give them and extra special hug this season.
Stay vertical!
Zangz.
