The Hobbit: An Unexpected Movie

I remember when I watched the first movie of the Lord of The Rings franchise, back in 2001. I was fresh out of the equally first of the Harry Potter movies, and at the time the two franchises were placed against one another in a form of media rivalry ( as it will be later in the future, for Harry Potter vs. Twilight, Twilight vs. the Hunger Games and so on)

The story of the Hobbit

The Hobbit is an extension of The Lord of The Ring, its prequel. Before Frodo set off on his journey to the pits of Mount Doom, the story of Middle Earth wasn't always about the Dark Lord Sauron or the One Ring, though as one may found out, they're interconnected with every other tale in that land. Before the Elves, Men, Dwarves, Hobbits and other creatures of the Light joined forces to protect the kingdom together from their mutual enemies, they very much minded their own businesses. Elves stayed in their forests or valleys, while Hobbits keep to their Shires. Wizards roamed the land, but precious little is known about this unique kind.

Gandalf & Radagast

Dwarves lived in the mountains, as fiercely protective of their domain as Elves were coolly hostile to intruders. In the War of The Ring, dwarves were featured very briefly as an active force against Sauron, taking part in the Battle of Dale alongside the Men of Dale against the Easterlings, but little elsewhere. This, of course, is with the exception of Gimli, a member of Durin's folk which represented the Dwarves in the Fellowship of Nine, and also forged a friendship with the Elf Prince Legolas, personifying the end of the age-old Dwarves-Elves hostility.On the other hand, Dwarves took center stage as the most prominent race throughout the Hobbit.

The Hobbit was set years prior to the events in the Lord of The Rings. We see Bilbo Baggins (far younger than we know in the LOTR movies, played by the delightful Martin Freeman), a well-off hobbit who was enjoying his bachelorhood and the comfort of his home. He encountered Gandalf (still the Grey at present), who unwittingly introduced him to a band of 13 dwarves. These dwarves were led by the grim leader Thorin Oakenshield, on a quest to reclaim their home under the Lonely Mountains, which had been pillaged by the dragon Smaug during the reign of Thorin's grandfather Thror. Bilbo was then hired as their burglar for a particular task of their expedition.

The first part of The Hobbit trilogy, in general, pretty much goes along the same line as The Fellowship of The Ring, in which it was the story of a group of people on a journey. I was, however, pleasantly surprise because the vibe is a lot less depressing and benign than it had been for the Fellowship of the Ring. Here are some of the thoughts that I had throughout the movie.

1. Martin Freeman is an excellent choice for Bilbo.

A young Bilbo Baggins

I love Martin Freeman as John Watson in BBC's Sherlock. He was fun to watch, the exasperated-yet-faithful partner of the belligerent, eccentric Holmes. In the Hobbit, he was often bewildered by his surroundings and his companions. But that does not seem to hinder his easygoing ways, not even when the imposing Thorin brushed him off as weak and homesick. Bilbo has a good heart, he is a Hobbit of the Shire through and through, but he does not hesitate to use trickery and even threat to save himself. I find him a nice balance of humour, simplicity and cunning, which is a nice change to the previous hobbits (which I will not criticize in this blog).

2. Gandalf had a lot more sense of humour before the One Ring was found.

Don't be fooled by that serious look

Gandalf is a wizard. So it is expected for a wizard in Middle Earth to be benign, even in light occasions  Tricking people and talking in ways that made other want to tear off the long white (or grey) hair is more reserved for wizards in another dimension (cough*Dumbledore*cough). So it's refreshing to see him talk in riddles and sending dwarves into a shocked Bilbo's house, just so they would clean off his (Bilbo's) larder.

3. Return of familiar characters

Thought you won't see me again eh, precious?

We all know Gollum is coming back, so is Elrond, Saruman and Galadriel. Even through previous press releases, we know Elijah Wood will make an appearance, even though the Hobbit is set before his time. But it still makes me smile when I see each and every one of them onscreen. Some scenes make you feel like you're living in time backwards, other scenes (like when Bilbo and Gollum were playing the Riddle game) makes you want to cry out "Don't go there!

Slight hitch: Where on earth is Legolas Greenleaf? We want more Legolas!!

4. There are actually some pretty good looking dwarves in Middle Earth
Look, in my defense, aside from the 30-second appearance of the dwarven representatives in Elrond's council in the Fellowship of the Ring, the only visible dwarf all throughout the trilogy had been Gimli. While I adore Gimli (he is funny as hell), I would not exactly trade Legolas or Faramir or even Aragorn for him in the looks department. The Hobbit actually showcases a pretty impressive lineup of dwarves, some even decent-looking too. My opinion is, if Snow White had seen these guys, she would have ditched Prince Charming, pronto.

Someone Called for a Good-looking Dwarve?

 In a way, I see it as a catch-up lesson on these mountainfolks. We have so much exposure to the Hobbits, Men and Elves in LOTR (even orcs have their share of glory in there), it's time to shine some spotlight on this race.

5. Oh Eagles! Where were you for the past two and a half hours of the movie?
Towards the end of the movie, at the very edge of mortal peril, Gandalf summoned his Eagle friends to carry their group away from Misty Mountains and from the group of orcs attacking them. And before that, they almost got eaten by Trolls, got in between a Stone Giant fight, captured and escaped a community of Goblins and, yes, being chased left right and center by Orcs on Wargs, its leader being Thorin's old foe. And here you are, at the edge of a cliff, the dwarves a slip away from falling to their deaths, the dwarven king nearly dead, with a hobbit between him and his Orc enemy, and...

Oh, wait a minute let me summoned my trusty gigantic winged friends. Really Gandalf, it's not as if there's the Eye to worry about this time around. Would have saved a lot of trouble if you had whistled for those birds way earlier.

But then, the movie would have been reduced to five minutes, plus credits, instead of the usual 3-hours.

 Great movie. I like how it's a lighter vibe than LOTR had been.

What the heck are you people doing in my house??