As I said I will usually only post on Fridays, but today is one of those days I will be posting off schedule. Yesterday I watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for the first time. Yes, yes, I know, I am very late, but in my defense I wanted to see it a long time ago. Between school and conflicting schedules with friends, I didn't get the chance.
I originally wanted to see the movie because 1. I love the Lord of the Rings Trilogy from a few years ago and 2. Martin Freeman. The trilogy has been some of my favorite movies for years. I probably have seen each movie over ten times, sometimes watching the entire trilogy in one sitting.
And Martin... I fell in love with his acting in his show Sherlock, but have watched him in several films since. He is such a phenomenal actor that every role he does seems like a completely different person. I was excited that one of my favorite film series would now be staring one of my favorite actors. (You don't want to see me react when Benedict Cumberbatch has a bigger role in the movies.)
From the start of the movie I was amazed. They were able to somehow, seamlessly transition between parts from LotR to the background needed to understand The Hobbit's plot back to LotR, before settling into the main storyline of The Hobbit. Even describing the story progression sounds all over the place, but Peter Jackson did a great job at making it work.
The little details in inserted in the movie to give hints to later happenings were masterful. When Frodo is going through Bilbo's treasure chest, he pulls out a few things, that to the observant eye, gives little clues to what is coming up.
As with all of the other LotR movies, the visual affects are stunning. The entire movie looks as if it were shot in front of a green screen, but apparently New Zealand is just naturally that beautiful. The soft beauty of the setting gives a contrast to the tough dirty look of all the main characters and enhances the beauty of the elves whenever they are on screen.
Along with the elves of Rivendell, another minor character you would recognize from the previous movies is Gollum. His scene has to been my favorite in the entire movie. Although he is a CG creation, his mannerisms, facial expressions, and actions all present the inner fight for sanity he goes through.The scene is a perfect balance of funny, scary, and exciting. Bilbo and Gollum are fighting back an forth, but not in the physical sense, but mentally. Although Gollum is portrayed as insane, he is still shown to be highly intelligent, holding his own in a battle of riddles.
Gollum isn't the only character that is able to show everything he is thinking through body language; Bilbo seems to wear his heart on his sleeve. Somehow Martin is able to express so many thoughts and feelings through his face and you can only sit there amazed that a person has such ability.
Though Bilbo and Gollum's scene together does not have much action, the rest of the movie makes up for it in spades. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the amount of action in the movie was a pleasant surprise. There was a great deal of swords flurrying around and arrows flying through the sky.
All in all, I think it's a movie almost anyone could enjoy. Fun for the family and men and women would find something to love about it.
I originally wanted to see the movie because 1. I love the Lord of the Rings Trilogy from a few years ago and 2. Martin Freeman. The trilogy has been some of my favorite movies for years. I probably have seen each movie over ten times, sometimes watching the entire trilogy in one sitting.
And Martin... I fell in love with his acting in his show Sherlock, but have watched him in several films since. He is such a phenomenal actor that every role he does seems like a completely different person. I was excited that one of my favorite film series would now be staring one of my favorite actors. (You don't want to see me react when Benedict Cumberbatch has a bigger role in the movies.)
From the start of the movie I was amazed. They were able to somehow, seamlessly transition between parts from LotR to the background needed to understand The Hobbit's plot back to LotR, before settling into the main storyline of The Hobbit. Even describing the story progression sounds all over the place, but Peter Jackson did a great job at making it work.
The little details in inserted in the movie to give hints to later happenings were masterful. When Frodo is going through Bilbo's treasure chest, he pulls out a few things, that to the observant eye, gives little clues to what is coming up.
As with all of the other LotR movies, the visual affects are stunning. The entire movie looks as if it were shot in front of a green screen, but apparently New Zealand is just naturally that beautiful. The soft beauty of the setting gives a contrast to the tough dirty look of all the main characters and enhances the beauty of the elves whenever they are on screen.
Along with the elves of Rivendell, another minor character you would recognize from the previous movies is Gollum. His scene has to been my favorite in the entire movie. Although he is a CG creation, his mannerisms, facial expressions, and actions all present the inner fight for sanity he goes through.The scene is a perfect balance of funny, scary, and exciting. Bilbo and Gollum are fighting back an forth, but not in the physical sense, but mentally. Although Gollum is portrayed as insane, he is still shown to be highly intelligent, holding his own in a battle of riddles.
Gollum isn't the only character that is able to show everything he is thinking through body language; Bilbo seems to wear his heart on his sleeve. Somehow Martin is able to express so many thoughts and feelings through his face and you can only sit there amazed that a person has such ability.
Though Bilbo and Gollum's scene together does not have much action, the rest of the movie makes up for it in spades. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the amount of action in the movie was a pleasant surprise. There was a great deal of swords flurrying around and arrows flying through the sky.
All in all, I think it's a movie almost anyone could enjoy. Fun for the family and men and women would find something to love about it.
Hi Traci,
ReplyDeleteJust stopped by to check out your new blog, and I have to say I adored this movie. There aren't a lot of movies I consider worth paying theater price for, but this one was fantastic.
Oh, and your blog looks pretty good too ;)
~Dianna
It really was a great movie. I tried hard to think of something bad, but all I could do was fangirl.
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