The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

- All too expected: a trip we've been through before

In the first round of their journey director Peter Jackson sends his sorcerer Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and a good dozen of dwarfs on a mission to recapture their former homeland inside of the "Lonely Mountain". But despite the running time of nearly three hours they are not getting too far in the first film of the trilogy and there are reasonable doubts about the trisection again which is more likely to be a commercial decision than an artistic one. A shorter, more compact approach with more concentration on the essentials would have been more advantageous for the saga's kick-off. While the Hobbit is not the disastrous counterpart to "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace", as some had feared in the forefront, it is also no "Lord of the Rings" ... or sometimes a little too much so actually ...

The prequel to the popular fantasy series lacks some crucial qualities considering depth and atmosphere. Boredom on the other hand is not one of its major components either but all the pleasure is from the rather shallow, superficial kind. Then unfortunately much of it also feels too familiar like we have seen the same thing before. The set up is all too similar to "The fellowship of the ring". The beautiful landscapes are certainly still nice to look at but somehow there is a feeling that we have been through the same adventure before.

Other than its older brother "The Hobbit" never achieves a similarly immersive level of poignancy and tension that was present in the fellowship's company. One reason for that is just the members of the troop. Aside of the brave dwarf leader Thorin (Richard Armitage) who sees his duty and destiny in returning the home of the dwarfs to his people and leading them back to their roots even if this means death, all the other ones of his tribe are completely one-dimensional. Thorin has his principles, his honor and his pride that often swaps over into dourness. Furthermore his life is enlighted and fleshed out by flashbacks into the past even though some of these expositional excourses are implemented rather practically than elegantly into the film. All the other dwarfs stay stereotypes without distinct personalities. This results in missing dynamics within the group. Especially protagonist Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) is rather weak in the first half of the picture and can't really stand out alone against the dwarfs. The hobbit joins the expedition with lots of reservations after previous hesitation. Thorin is sceptical too. But Bilbo doesn't really have a partner at his side to bring his inner conflicts properly on the screen. Gandalf is mostly busy with something else and so Bilbo looks a little lost sometimes. That wasn't the case with Frodo who always had his loyal friend Sam as an outlet for his emotions. Also Gandalf - who has probably learned from this story - was more of a mentor to him than he is to Bilbo. On top of that there was interesting tension in the interaction with characters like Aragorn and Boromir. Here the strong, present roles are mostly missing. In case of Bilbo that changes in the moment when Andy Serkis also known as Gollum shows up - but that is over one and a half hours into the film. The two share the best scene in the picture and probably the only moment of profound emotional content.

The beginning of the film in particular wanders rather slowly and stresses patience especially because there are no interesting characters to introduce anyway. After an appropriate backstory about the dwarf's race origins, their war and their displacement the little community teams up at Bilbo's house in the shire followed by an elaborate welcome and two musical acts of which (at least) one is totally dispensable. Finally the trip is about to begin. But unlike in "The fellowship of the ring" there is no sense of threat or tension throughout most of the film. First obstacles like (overly) dim-witted trolls are taken down and soon the voyagers are hunted by orcs. A second magician named Radagast has a short appearences after they meet him in the woods. He had been compared to Jar Jar Binks from the first Star Wars episode by some sceptics before but he is far less annoying and can be quite sure not to be deleted out of the movie by angry fans. The problem with his character is that he initiates a subplot that is not dealt with any further at all in this first installment. But that was probably inevitable.

Not as inevitable as it was to make the journey that monotonous. Discounting a short break at a well known elven city where you'll meet some old friends, most of the events seem to be more like a line up of random fights with no-name monsters. Real antagonists are hard to make out or stay passively in the background. Hence the action becomes a little repetetive and insignificant. One scene in particular involving some rock-like giants plays solely for asthetic reasons without a coherent context or necessity. It's another part in the film that could have been shortened or left out completely. The best sequence of the film begins with the appearance of the skinny, schizophrenic creature Gollum, who is at that time the keeper of Sauron's ring. This little therapy session is intercut with the film's most exciting action sequence. In a furious rollercoaster ride through regiments of orcs Peter Jackson demonstrates his rich imagination and creates a very funny chase supported by exhilarating camera movement. It's a joy to watch the very playful but not laughable show.

However, there are humorous moments in the film that cross the line and feel so corny and dull even though it's by far not as bad as I had worried. But one or two mood-killers are in there just like in the last two Lord of the Rings movies. One is delivered by Gandalf in a really, really lame joke at the beginning. His role is also quite problematic in terms of its dramaturgical function. Multiple times he appears to be like a kind of "deus ex machina". Repeatedly he is responsible for crucial turns and very, very unsatisfying plot development as a result.

LITTLE SPOILERS AHEAD

He is also guilty of denying the conflict to reach a first climax. Even for the opening of a series the ending of the film lacks any kind of pay-off. Where the fellowship of the ring split up at a very tragic point in their journey, "The Hobbit" leaves us with a much less moving, memorable finale.

END OF SPOILERS

"The Hobbit" doesn't really draw us back into the world (yet). The film offers enjoyable popcorn entertainment for most of the time but much of it is just too familiar and too unremarkable with hardly any moments to remember. And this is just how the first round ends: with a shot that you should be able to anticipate long before it arrives on screen and with the feeling that - at least for now - the film is rather moving in circles.

TRAILER:
Watch the Trailer for 'The Hobbit' on Youtube