My Review (4 stars):
The Hobbit: An Unexpected
Journey (2012)... after watching it about three times, I think I may be
ready to review it. Maybe. Bear with me, people, I haven't read the
books! It's just that its such a long movie, and without having read
The Hobbit, it takes me awhile to sort everything out.
So, The Hobbit: An
Unexpected Journey (2012) actually comes before all three Lord of the Rings
movies. While Frodo makes an appearance in the former, its about his
uncle(??), Bilbo Baggins. I definitely liked this movie better than
LotR. It wasn't as dark I think. It felt more adventurous, humorous,
and purposeful to me. An epic tale of good vs. evil.
And I think that's all
J.R.R. Tolkien meant it to be. An epic tale of good vs. evil, that
is. Though Tolkien was a Christian I believe, a friend of C.S. Lewis
even, I'm pretty sure he said at some point in his life that he
didn't mean his books (The Hobbit and
Lord of the Rings)
to be Christian allegories. However, we still may see subtle, small
allegories scattered throughout this film. Overall, it doesn't have a
BIG allegory, like Chronicles of Narnia. The wizards, like Gandalf,
seem to be the highest powers on the good side. On the dark side,
there is this blackness/sorcerer/evil being called the necromancer
who definitely could represent Satan. But all in all, I think its just a
great, adventurous, action story; and even can make me think of the
spiritual world at times. The necromancer and the orc certainly make
me think of Satan and his demons. But I wouldn't try to find a big,
Christian allegory in this film. It just confuses one.
Gandalf also has some
wise things to say that really make The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
all the better. It's a thoughtful tale really, with some lessons to
teach I think.
Okay, some downs for me.
There's some sort of crudeness, toilet humor, gross aspects.
Nasty-looking trolls act in base ways; disgusting goblins and their
horribly-disgusting king dominate a good many scenes; a wretched,
little, once-was-a-hobbit named Gollum now acts like an animal; the
dwarves are extremely piggy, spilling ale down their beards, extended
burping... at least in one scene... All that could have been toned
down some in my opinion. I'm just too much of a girl for all that, ha!
But besides their
unseemly table manners, the dwarves do become rather loveable. The
hobbits in their little hobbit village are very cute, if not sweet as well.
Bilbo often melted my heart with his whole-hearted loyalty and simple
bravery. Plus he's just a very unique and likable character;
definitely a hobbit! :) And I very much like Gandalf, as always. He's a grand character too. The
lady wizard, Galadriel is also inspiring.
Hmm... the orcs can be
frightening, as well as the huge, wolf-like beasts they ride. The
scene of the little, woodsman wizard visiting the dark, abandoned
fortress is creepy to be sure. I think the Gollum parts are the worst
for me... he's too animal-like for actually having once been a
hobbit. Plus its hard to watch his good and bad side battle when you
know he'll eventually be overcome by evil (in the LotR). Definitely take note of the pg-13 rating because of these things.
So, there's a few
aspects I generally wouldn't prefer in the movies I watch. But, The
Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), and its like, are exceptions.
Middle-Earth is brilliant. The scenery in this movie (New Zealand
area), is beautiful. I love visiting the elvish lands... they're
simply lovely and inspiring and fantasy-like. In fact, the elves
really are my favorite race of Middle-Earth. The whole getting hunted
down by orcs and their massive wolves is really quite exciting;
though I could have done without the goblins! The hobbit holes are
very homey and quite sweet.
This whole unexpected
adventure of Bilbo Baggins has me intrigued. I'll be back to review
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) when I've watched that for the
third time! :p
[The dwarves]
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