Monday, December 17, 2012

Book-to-Movie Review: The Hobbit


Yesterday, I went to see The Hobbit with my family. My family and I have been expecting this movie for years so we were pretty excited when we went to the theater. At the same time, we were nervous about the film's technology not knowing how our bodies will take it. The theater that we went to only offered the 2D and 3D versions but both in 48 fps.

Once the movie began, you immediately notice the advance in technology. The colors were more vibrant and the computer graphics were more realistic. Also, it took some getting used to seeing the constant movement of the film. It felt like the film was being fast-forward as the camera moved about the scenery. I had to sometimes close one eye so my mind could focus to what I was seeing. After an hour, I felt myself getting a little nauseous and felt the beginnings of a migraine. Luckily I went prepared and took my medication.

The storyline pretty much stayed close to the book, but of course it was expanded and the Lord of the Rings plot was interwoven. This made sense since Peter Jackson has decided to make The Hobbit into three films.

The first 45 minutes was a little bit slow since it was the introduction. I enjoyed it though because you came to learn the back story of the dwarves on how they lost their land. You also see the relationship between the dwarves even if it didn't go into depth on each character's life. I also really love how the dwarves sang the songs that were in the book. The rest of the film went faster as it was filled with action scenes.

The actors did a splendid job in recreating the beloved characters from Tolkien's world. Martin Freeman did an excellent job as Bilbo Baggins. He was able to capture Bilbo's innocence and cowardice, yet be able to show how Bilbo slowly grows out of his shell to be more of a hero. Ian McKellen was back as Gandalf and of course he was awesome! Gandalf was pretty sneaky in the book and I liked how Ian was able to portray that in the film. Another character that I was pretty impressed by was Thorin, played by Richard Armitage. Now, that's one bad-ass dwarf!  And of course there was Gollum played by Andy Serkis. The scene with the riddles was my favorite in the book and in the movie.

The Hobbit was a pretty simple and fun book. It was mostly targeted to the youth. You saw some of it's simplicity and cuteness in the movie since it wasn't as dark as the LOTR trilogy movies. There were jokes and singing. There was also a character called Radagast the brown wizard, who was only mentioned once in the book yet was given a bigger role in the movie, to add more of a comedic relief. Did I care much about this character? No, not really. But I did appreciate the fact that Peter Jackson tried to keep the movie more light hearted.

In all, I really liked this movie and I think it did a great job in bringing the book to life. Now I have to wait patiently for another year for the next film to come out.


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