When The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is good, it’s really good. Throughout Peter Jackson‘s first film in the Hobbit trilogy, his camera sweeps through an epic battle, and Howard Shore’s score crescendos through the speakers as thirteen dwarves, one wizard and a hobbit fight for their lives. That’s what most audiences are paying to see, and the film provides that on a grand scale, again and again.
“Again and again” is also the film’s biggest issue. On a consistent basis, it’s almost as if Jackson forgets he has two more films to release and is forced to pump the brakes. Tangents pop out of nowhere, dialogue scenes are stretched into infinity, and a familiar structure of capture followed by rousing escape, is consistently repeated. Much of the film feels like it’s purposely attempting to stall the dwarves’ quest from progressing.
What we’re left with is a huge, beautiful piece of entertainment, the lows of which are slightly outweighed by its adrenaline pumping highs. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey works, but feels bloated, derived from the fact that it’s based on a child’s book, only stuffed and stretched beyond the bounds of J.R.R. Tolkien‘s original narrative. Still, its flaws and fun work hand in hand to provide a suitably rousing first act to the Hobbit trilogy.
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Once the background is explained and the characters’ journey is painstakingly set up, the film falls into a very rigid structure. They walk a bit; something bad transpires; there’s a miraculous, action packed solution; and the journey continues. Since Tolkien wrote The Hobbit primarily as a children’s book, this simple narrative is understandable. And while we rarely feel like there’s anything at risk during the action, as it’s so early in the story, each of the set pieces are visually impressive and exciting. Jackson and his crew have staged some goosebump-inducing action, combining traditional battles with environmental interactions. Couple those elements with Shore’s memorable score and these scenes become a thing of wonder.
But then Jackson does it again. And again. And it’s still exciting, just decreasingly so. Excepting the entertainment value for the audience, the only real purpose of this action is to cement the fellowship of this group, especially the initially unwelcome inclusion of Bilbo. From the outset, Bilbo’s status is well-established as an unwanted outsider, and over the course of the movie, his acceptance by the group is a primary arc. Unfortunately, it’s treated with the more importance than the journey itself and 90 minutes into 160 minute movie, it doesn’t feel like the dwarves have gone anywhere.
