Movie Review: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 2012.  Starring Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage and Ken Stott.  Rated PG-13, Running time 169 minutes. Directed by Peter Jackson.

Taking on the novel that started it all, The Hobbit is a visually spellbinding film.  The new 48 frames per second 3D translation is nothing short of incredible and in fact is the only way the film should be screened.  However, while Jackson turned the Lord of the Rings trilogy into a series of legend, this film falls flat on its face in the story department.

Plotline is this:  Young Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) relaxes one morning at his home in the shire when the wizard Gandolf the Grey (McKellen) shows up.  After asking Bilbo a series of questions, he leaves a mark on Bilbo's door, leading to several groups of dwarves arriving unexpectedly at his home.

These groups include Thorin (Armitage), the rightful King of the dwarves.......if he had a kingdom to rule.  Many years before, a fearsome dragon had taken over the kingdom, and Thorin intends to lead a pack of dwarves; assisted by Gandolf and a reluctant Bilbo to reclaim his homeland.

Along the way, they are perused by a pack of orcs seeking vengeance, assisted by the elves of Rivendell and Bilbo has an encounter with a strange man like creature named Smeagol, or better known as Gollum, where he comes into the possession of a strange powerful ring.

However, as magnificent as the cast is, as spectacular as the visuals are...I was bored through a great deal of the film.  The padding necessary to stretch a single book to three films rivals that used on a Kardashian sister.      Add to that the fact that a great deal of it felt more like a comic book than a classic of literature and my disappointment was compounded.  Director Jackson didn't feel the need to stretch the much longer texts of the Rings trilogy into multiple films, why would he do it for the smallest book of the bunch?

Well, we all know the answer to that one....cash.

There is no question the film is a masterstroke of design and performance, it simply cannot be faulted there.  But, story does matter, and that is the true weakness of this Hobbit.

C-