For
those who were looking for a film based only on the book itself, Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey might be a
slight portion of disappointment at first. However, for those who have done
further reading on the fantastic world of Middle Earth (especially those who
have read J. R. R. Tolkien's Silmarillion), the film can be a fair
compensation for the painful experience from The Lord of the Rings, because this time, Peter Jackson and his
fellow producers have decided to prepare a special surprise for the ultimate
Tolkien devotees. The film is rumored to have been shot based not only on the
book itself, but also on additional information found in secret notes Tolkien
had kept for himself. Luckily enough, these notes have somehow found their way
into the producers’ hands (for those who were baffled by the presence of
Saruman and Galadriel, as well as other quite conspicuous, say, misconceptions:
this might be the reason for them). On the other hand, what kind of a block
buster would Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey be, if it was all based on depiction of characters exactly
according to the author? It is probably due to some unwritten law, that there
just simply has to be at least some alternation
in the original story; that we have to face new versions of our heroes.
If you are
about to go see the film, I strongly recommend forgetting the former
conceptions of bravery or wit, as well as the almost balladic way of depicting
heroes. All of this has been replaced with pure action so typical of block
busters, although not even lovers of special effects would be purely satisfied.
Bilbo Baggins, for example, whom I once believed to be a rather simple
conservative man of common sense is here depicted as a neurotic, fearful, yet
almost sly frantic conformist who suddenly changes his life (why does this
remind me of the American dream cliché?) and proves to himself, as well as to
his fellow pilgrims, that he can also do something big in his life. The
storyline, on the other hand, is quite accurate, despite the fact that all the
dramatic parts are scattered with taunts which gives the story almost Marvel Comics-like
impression. The only thing missing was probably a cocky superhero with an almighty
crossbow shooting arrows at 100% accuracy and at a very quick pace (200 arrows
per minute would do, I guess)… perhaps in one of the next two parts. The second
part of the journey will continue on 13 December 2013.
