The Road Goes On

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

*** out of ****

Directed by: Peter Jackson

Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Graham McTavish and Andy Serkis

Running time: 169 minutes

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a thrilling return to Middle Earth, full of many stunning peaks and a few interminable valleys.

There is no reason for this film, part of a planned trilogy, to be so long and to feature moments of trivial importance. Tolkien’s original novel is slimmer than each of his Lord of the Rings installments – which each got one representative film adaptation also directed by Peter Jackson. Nevertheless, An Unexpected Journey is a merry introduction.

Hobbit Bilbo Baggins (a perfectly cast Martin Freeman) lives in comfort and solitude in his undemanding hobbit hole. One day, the powerful wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) brings a gathering of merry, musical dwarves to Bilbo’s home for tea and dinner.

The 13 dwarves are off on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain, a stronghold from their old kingdom of Erebor, which was conquered by a dragon named Smaug. Due to Bilbo’s minuscule size, the dwarves hope that the hobbit can burgle the treasure of gold left in the Mountain at the end of a long, treacherous journey – one that involves crossing the Misty Mountains and hopefully steering clear of orcs, goblins and Gollum.

The leader of the group is the noble, if haughty Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), a descendent of the dwarf king. He doubts that the short, hairy-footed protagonist can partake in a quest so perilous.

The first installment of the trilogy covers the first seven chapters of Tolkien’s classic adventure. One could read these pages, and then some, throughout the duration of Jackson’s film. Nevertheless, as Gandalf intones to Bilbo near the start of their quest, “All good stories deserve embellishment.”

The main caveat about this expansion – much of the material comes from appendices to the Lord of the Rings, and other Tolkien works – is that none of it adds much. A subplot involving Radagast the Brown, Gandalf’s flustered wizard cousin, offers little meat to the spine of the story.

Beyond the film’s bloated trajectory, however, this trip back into Middle Earth is well worth it. The scope of Jackson’s production has the same magnitude as his earlier films, complete with magnificent scenescapes – the film ought to enliven New Zealand’s tourism industry – and impressively mounted battle sequences.

An Unexpected Journey is rapt with impressive digital artistry. The nine years of computerized advancement since Return of the King have rid the image of a clean superficiality that the massive, inauthentic-looking armies showed in that film.

Although the journey is unwieldy, it is full of good company. I cannot recall the last time a beloved literary character was cast so perfectly as Martin Freeman is as Bilbo.

The character’s naïve hesitations, lack of pretension and curiosity for adventure is portrayed with colour and a wry charm by the British actor (who has done quite a service to adaptations of beloved English novels, playing Arthur Dent on film and Dr. John Watson on television, as well).

Meanwhile, BBC stalemate Richard Armitage is sharp and steely as the intimidating leader of the dwarves. Andy Serkis, who reprises his role as the scheming, sibilant Gollum (as well as serving as the second unit director) deserves yet another ‘for your consideration’ campaign for his electrifying motion capture performance.

Full of majestic settings and magnificent performances, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has enough high points (and high-spirited adventure) to offset its bloated running time.