The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Published 2021-09-07
Film info
- Title The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Director Peter Jackson
- Year 2012
- Run time 2hr 49m
- Genres Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Tagline From the smallest beginnings come the greatest legends
- Cast Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, Benedict Cumberbatch
The first in a trilogy of films based on the enduring masterpiece The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, An Unexpected Journey follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who - along with the Wizard Gandalf and 13 Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield - is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome Dragon Smaug. Their journey will take them into the Wild, through treacherous lands inhabited by Goblins, Orcs and deadly Wargs, as well as a mysterious and sinister figure known only as the Necromancer. Along the path, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even himself, he also gains possession of a 'precious' ring tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways he cannot begin to imagine.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 6:34 | You can't fight fire with swords. |
| 12:25 | Did he say Farthing Wood? |
| 22:51 | If I remember from the books it was too many characters. Oof. |
| 29:25 | "How came you by this?" Weird sentence construction. |
| 38:07 | Wasn't expecting so much singing in this, I'll be honest. |
| 49:53 | You can always tell when Gandalf knows more than he's saying. |
| 50:47 | "It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will keep raining until the rain is done." |
| 1:08:26 | I feel like it would have taken ages to cook the hobbits on that spit, it was miles away from the fire. |
| 1:23:37 | "The only will in this valley is that which you bring yourself." |
| 1:30:58 | How convenient. The moon always seems to be in the right state for whatever they need. |
| 1:44:11 | Ooh, we're not just walking, we've got a walking montage. |
| 1:56:37 | He did fall for the age old trick of not seeing the dead body and just telling himself the enemy was dead. |
| 2:03:53 | Oh man, I'm so rubbish at riddles. |
| 2:08:40 | Gollum's reactions are pretty much how I feel doing any quiz. |
| 2:11:37 | I feel like Gandalf has done more magic in this film than in the whole of the previous trilogy. |
| 2:20:40 | Oh well done for remembering Bilbo, so much later. |
| 2:34:08 | Hmm, the eagles do appear to have taken sides here. |
| 2:39:29 | The dragon is like Scrooge McDuck. |
Thoughts
Wow, this was a really boring film, arguably the worst of the lot so far. I always knew there would be some stretching out of plot, given we're milking three films out of one slim-line book. But this was beyond a joke. It was a full 45 minutes before they even started walking, and walking is usually the worst bit... this time I was happy they'd finally got out of Bag End. For a moment, when they were chatting on about the party at the beginning, I was worried we were just going to watch the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy again just from a different perspective.
But no, eventually, we went back in time to when Martin Freeman was Bilbo and I have to say I did enjoy his performance, spiky but kinda humble, funny but not intentionally so. Otherwise the rest was pretty forgettable.
Rating: 2 / 5
