Kmacs: The Hobbit

     THE HOBBIT: An Unexpected Love Story

Kmac Review: It was over a decade ago that I was taken on a little date to see a movie. A movie I had no desire to see and couldn’t imagine liking. I left the theater with a smile on my face and a brand new movie obsession. That was my first viewing of Lord of the Rings.

My fandom is mostly tied to the movies. I never really got into the extended world, even though I married a nerd with his own Bestiary. The books I flipped through so that wikipedia I could find out what happened to my favorite characters, basically anyone other than Frodo, in the wait between movies. I love books but Tolkien was a no for me, too dry. So what I was in love with was Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings.

When the Hobbit was announced I didn’t think I would watch it. I know this is the same aversion that almost made me miss out on Lord of the Rings but it again didn’t seem like my thing. When everyone read The Hobbit in high school I opted for the Great Gatsby, I was turned off Tolkien and also kind of pretentious. Jmac had tried to get me on the 1970’s animated Hobbit but other than being able to hum the songs, which are pretty catchy, it didn’t catch my interest. Which is how this past Christmas I found myself sitting in a theater with my in-laws, thanks Uncle Pat, watching a movie I had no desire to see and couldn’t imagine liking. History was about to repeat itself.

The Hobbit is a lot of fun. That is the simplest way to sum it up. If the Lord of the Rings was epic, then The Hobbit is just a good time. I don’t enjoy it any less for being lighter. In fact my sitcom, rom com, any kind of com side may even like it better. The drama revolves around a group of dwarves who are kicked out of their homeland by a gold loving dragon. With the help of a wizard and the title hobbit Bilbo Baggins they go about their quest, getting into misadventures along the way. Oh and don’t worry this movie will feature people walking everywhere, they run instead.

There are a lot of characters  in this movie. I have watched it several times now and still can’t keep track of all the dwarf names. It really isn’t important though. The movie develops the characters necessary to move the plot along and you come to recognise on sight if not name the different dwarfs. I found myself attached to them even if I knew very little. Any peril had me holding my breath, no not the chubby one I like the chubby one, no not the old one I like the old one. I found myself really caring about these characters and their journey and it helped that the all stayed to together instead of the movie supporting so many storylines as in Lord of the Rings. I smiled when the characters were on screen and wanted them back during the scenic New Zealand scenes. Again a difference from Lord of the Rings where I wanted less Frodo and more snow capped mountains.

The score is fantastic as always. I enjoyed the way they mixed elements of the previous score in with new tracks. It conveys that this isn’t the same movie as the previous ones but that this story is still a part of the bigger picture. The song the dwarfs sing about their homeland is appropriately mournful and will get stuck in your head for days. The music also sets up the characters well and does a lot of storytelling itself. Around the elves it is eathral, around orcs foreboding, and so on.

I had the opportunity to watch this movie in theaters with the new 48 speed film developed especially for this movie. Designed to feel more lifelike it certainly did seem at times like I was watching a play. But it felt oddly distracting and I was very aware of it. Upon repeat DVD viewing I found I enjoyed watching it more as a “movie” even if it was less life like. And I have done repeat viewing. I didn’t want to purchase the movie as I trust Peter Jackson to release an extended version close to Christmas and I know I’ll want it more. But I can’t seem to stay away from this movie and so I have Redboxed it multiple times. That really sums up how I feel about this movie which was the most enjoyable I saw last year.

Overall I’m glad they are turning this into a three movie event. As someone who is not a slave to the book I do not care that they are creating new scenes. I’ll probably never even know. This is a great movie, a fun movie, and one you should be renting now instead of reading this overly long love letter to it.

I give this movie 5 out of 5 hairy hobbit feet, misty mountains, deus ex machina eagles, and tokes of the longbottom leaf... or for no nerds I give this 5 out of 5 standing ovations.