Book-to-Movie Review: The Hobbit

Movie- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Part- Part 1 of 3 Book 
Based on- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Prequel to Lord of the Rings Saga Rating- 4/5 

            J.R.R. Tolkien has become a beloved writer who has provided us with the Lord of the Rings Saga. The LOTR movies, three in total, were released from 2001 to 2003. The franchise was very successful grossing close to three billion dollars worldwide. Although the books were first received with mixed reviews, Tolkien’s works are considered literary masterpieces. Tolkien wrote many books on the mythical land of Middle Earth. The making of the Hobbit was the next move for this internationally successful franchise.

            J.R.R. Tolkien is one of my favorite authors and people. His works are not only well written but there are hardly any gaps and holes in his plot and writing. He also does a very good job in describing this magical world to his readers. What many fantasy novelists fail to do is relay the information and history needed for the reader to understand the worlds they have created. Tolkien does a wonderful job of explaining his world so that there is not much ambiguity left. I first heard about Tolkien in high school. When everybody read Lord of the Flies, I got to skip over that and instead I read the Hobbit and the Fellowship of the Ring from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I instantly fell in love with the books and the characters. Being a fantasy reading fanatic, I was hooked. So naturally, I found out about the movie as soon as it was announced for production. I waited five years for the movie to be made and released, from the day I found out to the day it came out. When it finally came out, I went to see it. 

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            Overall I loved the movie. I think everyone involved in making it did a good job. They stayed very true to the books and did a visually stunning job. I think the movie was stunning to watch. The visuals and graphics were very well done, as the CGI is known to be amazing in the LOTR movies. It was a visual masterpiece, beautiful to see. I think they did a wonderful job casting the roles. However, some of the dwarves were too good looking to be dwarves. My favorite aspects of the movie had to be the visual aspects, the score, the casting and how true they stayed to the story. I was so pleased with how they did the scene with Gollum and Bilbo in the goblin tunnel cave. The scene had a touch of humor which was well needed and deserved for such a long film. I did enjoy the length as well. It may have been too long, also taking into account that the movie has been split into three parts, but I liked that I got to see as much as possible. I also enjoyed that Frodo was in the story. The stories in the Hobbit are not told but written down by Bilbo who writes his adventures into a book. Tolkien wrote the books making Bilbo and Frodo the narrators. In the Hobbit, Bilbo is writing down his adventures, and in the Lord of the Rings, Frodo is writing down his journey in a book as well. So I enjoyed how in the beginning of the movie we see this exchange where Bilbo is telling Frodo how he came to find the One Ring. I also like how they tied this movie to the LOTR Saga by having the telling of the story occur during Bilbo’s birthday, which is seen in the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring.  

            Although I loved the movie overall, there were some things that I did not like. First of all, I believe that the beginning of the story was too long. There was so much time spent on the dwarves eating at Bilbo’s house, and although people accredit this to the back story, I do not think it was back story. The dwarves raiding Bilbo’s pantry and pissing him off isn’t back story. Instead of wasting all that time in depicting that scene, they could have spent more time on back story. Such as describing in depth why Bilbo is not enough of a Took, and what that means exactly. As someone who hadn’t read the book in years, I had forgotten all about Bilbo’s Took ancestry and I would have liked to know more about it. Or I would have liked more information as to how Gandalf knew Bilbo’s father, and how Gandalf had come to choose Bilbo as the burglar. I also do not like that the movie is being split into three parts. I want to see it all right now. However, since they are doing three parts, they better depict every major scene in the book.               

            Overall I give the movie 4 out of 5. I think the movie was beautifully executed and well cast. I loved the visual effects, especially the scene with the Stone Giants. However, the movie dragged out in some places. Some of the other scenes felt anti-climactic or not suspenseful enough. There were places where I felt that the scene should have speed up. For the most part it was an amazing movie but it did not blow me away. Usually during movies that I have been waiting this long for, I am more excited and touched by the films. For example, with the Harry Potter, every movie I went to watch was thrilling and I got lost into the movies. I left the movie theater wide eyed and in awe. I was thoroughly wiped out by the end of the film, emotionally drained they call it. With the Hobbit, I didn’t get sucked into the movie. Maybe I was too excited or maybe I was not in the mood to see the movie. However, I found myself looking at the time more than once and wondering when the movie would end or pick up the pace. It was a great movie based off of a great book, but I needed an extra kick or pull that it was missing. 
~Sarina T

 Disclaimer: I do not own any of the images used in this blog post. The views and opinions in this post do not reflect the opinions of the other two bloggers. They are just views and opinions that everyone is entitled to and they are not facts.