It’s impossible for me to talk about “The Hobbit: An
Unexpected Journey” without first discussing the delivery mechanism. Over the
past few months there has been much back and forth over the fact that director
Peter Jackson planned to show the film in 48 frames per second, instead of the
traditional 24. I’ve got to say, I don’t like it too much. The images do have a
stunning clarity to them. In close up shots you can practically count each and
every pore on an actor’s face. And it does seem to alleviate some of the eyestrain
that pops up with 3D.
Those are the good points, but the bad so much outweighs the
positives that I have to recommend trying to find a screening at 24fps. The
biggest issue is going to be the motion sickness. Seriously, you might want to
take a Dramamine. Every camera movement, every sweeping pan, every epic
helicopter shot—and there’s a crap ton of all of them—is enough to make you
nauseous. Even more low-key shots, like tracking around Bilbo’s hobbit hole,
elicit the same response. Especially disorienting in moments of hectic
action—something else “The Hobbit” has a great deal of—you feel like you’re
being whipped around by a roller coaster, and not in a fun way. Talking to
people, some warm up to this feeling over the course of the film, but I never
did.
The overall effect makes “The Hobbit” come across like a
videogame, and the characters look like they’re pieces in an elaborate fantasy
RPG. An increased frame rate also means that the digital effects don’t mesh as
well with the organic images. In Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” films, the VFX blended
in seamlessly, but that is definitely not the case here. At times the effects
just look cheesy and bad, and resemble old movies where characters run in place
in front of a rear projection screen, or drive a stationary car while film of a
street plays behind them. There are moments that are almost comical.
It isn’t all bad, however. The Goblin King looks pretty damn
awesome. He’s suitably grotesque, covered in welts, open sores, and nasty boils.
And he looks like he has balls dangling from his chin, so there’s that. There’s
also one massive, badass brawl between stone giants that’s pretty spectacular,
and all of scenes of the underground realms are damn nice to gawk at.
While the presentation of “The Hobbit” is huge, huge
distraction, the rest of the movie is also something of a letdown. We’ve all
heard jokes about how the “Lord of the Rings” is mostly walking, but even as
much time as those movies take, there is always forward movement. “The Hobbit”
on the other hand, is full of places where the pace just stops dead in its
tracks like it slammed into a wall. An extended prologue sets up the story: Bilbo
(Martin Freeman) is convinced to go on an epic quest to help a group of
dwarves, led by Rob Zombie lookalike Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), to
reclaim their former kingdom, which has been taken over by a gold-hoarding dragon.
Even by the weirdly skewed standards by which we judge a
Peter Jackson adaptation of a beloved J.R.R. Tolkien novel, “The Hobbit” drags.
The introductory dinner scene, where Bilbo meets his cave-dwelling companions, is
the first instance where the film goes on too long, meandering on well after
the point has been made and beaten like the proverbial dead horse.
Abandoning his comfort zone, the reluctant little adventurer
accompanies his stubborn, volatile, head-butting companions. From his sleepy
small town home, they travel into the great wilderness of Middle Earth. On the
road they encounter all manner of creatures, dangers, and hazards; there are
wizards, orcs, elves, and, of course, Gollum, to contend with.
Over the course of their journey, the company engages in
many an epic battle. This is another area where “The Hobbit” pales in
comparison to the “Lord of the Rings”. While the earlier films were full of
grim, dirty combat, the fourth film in the cannon relies on gimmicks and lame
tricks. Every time the crew gets down to fighting, you get the impression that
they’re trying so hard to make the battles feel different, that they’re just
throwing things in at random. Instead of badass swordplay and limb hacking, you
get attempts to be clever that only succeed pulling you out of the moment. One
particular action sequence takes place on a series of wood and rope bridges
that are apparently so fragile a hobbit can barely walk on them. Until a piece of
bridge falls off and the company goes sledding down thousands of feet into a
cavern. When that happens it holds up shockingly well. Jackson and friends try
to be too clever when what they need is more straight up violence.
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” isn’t terrible, in fact
it is fine, but it could be so much better. It should be great, but the overuse
of CGI, a questionable choice in presentation, and serious pacing issues derail
the true potential. In the end you’re left wondering how it went that way, and
how in the hell are they going to squeeze two more movies out of this?
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