MOVIE MONDAYS: THE HOBBIT- AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY
I was afraid I was about to let another week pass by before I posted a MM post but I have managed it and I am very glad. Not sure if I have said this before but a dream of mine is to one day become a critically acclaimed film critic- be it in this world or a parallel one. The thought of critics criticising my criticism does tickle me though haha. But that will never come to fruition because I could never dissect a movie the way they do (to me that ruins the magic) and I could never discuss it in that much detail for fear of ruining the movie for others. So, I will stick to my form of film criticism which is ramble a bit about aspects of the film I found pleasing and other such things.
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I am a huge fan of The Lord of The Rings. Like...A HUGE FAN. And I can proudly say that I never saw any of the instalments in the cinema. I was in living in Nigeria at the time they came out so I had to wait until it came out on VCD. Yep! VCD folks, not DVD. Ah... those were the days. And now it seems as though the same thing has happened to The Hobbit series. Even though I was here in the UK at the time of release, I was way too busy with uni work to go see it. And I did not see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in the cinema when it came out because I hadn't watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey yet *sigh*. But it is all good. You know why? Because I got to see the film in my comfy clothes and in my comfy haven- my bed aaaand I got to pause and rewind the film at will (boy there were quite a few 'and's' in that sentence!). It was pure bliss I tell ya.
So, onto the movie:
Loved it. Me loved every second of it. Bilbo Baggins is now one of my favourite characters. I thought he was a right twat in the LOTR series but now, in his prime, I can see that he is a hilarious, kind and cowardly young hobbit who is the best person to go to in case of a famine haha. My best line of his is without a doubt:
"...Stop! Stop! We have to turn around...I forgot my handkerchief".
Absolutely brilliant! Had me and my sister in stitches for ages. See this is where being able to pause the film so you don't miss anything else comes in handy.
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The Hobbit, to those who are not in the know, is about the intertwining paths of a few hobbits, dwarves, wizards, elves and a unique category of things that go bump in the night as the quest of but a few to reclaim what is their's is embarked upon. There. Was that cryptic enough? Haha. Ok, how about this- it is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings and is an adaptation J. R. R Tolkiens novel 'The Hobbit'. I really need to get my hands on a copy of that book actually. The film was directed amazingly by Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings (1-3); King Kong (2005); The Lovely Bones) and its fab screenplay was written by quite a few people - Fran Walsh (The Lord of the Rings(1-3); King Kong (2005); The Lovely Bones), Philippa Boyens(The Lord of the Rings (1-3); King Kong (2005); The Lovely Bones), Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy(1&2); Pan's Labyrinth; Pacific Rim). Looks like Peter, Fran and Philippa have worked together on quite a few great projects. Interesting...
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The characters and cast are fantastic in this film me thinks. Bilbo Baggins, played by Martin Freenman (Sherlock (TV show); Love Actually;Hot Fuzz) is definitely my favourite character in this film. Followed closely by Galadriel-played by Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine; The Lord of the Rings (1-3); Hanna) - even though she did not have that much screen time. Her costumes and hairstyle never fail to catch my breath. Honestly, they are exquisite. And am I the only one who doesn't like Elrond- the Lord of Rivendell? Hugo Weaving is a really good actor, don't get me wrong, but for some reason I just really don't like Elrond *shrugs*. I could go on and on about the other characters but I shall save that for another post.
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If you are the kind of soul that loves a lot bit of fantasy, intrigue, action, humour and adventure then I think you will enjoy this film. I will try and catch The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug at the cinema sometime this week. I just hope my bladder doesn't act up halfway through the film as there is no way I will be missing a second of it!
To those that have read the books- do you think the films did Tolkein's books justice?
Mo xx