Review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) by Ariana D — 15 Mar 2017

"Far over the misty mountains cold, to dungeons deep and caverns old, we must away ere break of day, to seek the pale enchanted gold," (Tolkien, 15). And that's precisely what The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey is all about. Voyaging to the misty mountains to reclaim a stolen treasure. Bilbo Baggins, a respectable hobbit is having a grand time staying in his home and enjoying his life. However, when the wizard Gandalf appears on his door step and invites him on an adventure, even though Bilbo politely declines, the viewer can foreshadow some exciting events appearing in the future of the story. Soon after when Bilbo is making supper for himself, thirteen dwarves lead by the legendary Thorin Oakenshield arrive at his house, eat his food, and inform him further on the adventure that they are taking part in and how he is going with them as well. Before Bilbo can fully realize what's going on, he's sitting on a pony riding towards his destiny.

As a fan of both The Hobbit books and films, I can safely say that unlike other books into films this adaptation did a fine job of giving the flavor of the original Tolkien stories as well as giving viewers background of other Tolkien lore. An example of this is the beginning of the film when it showed how the dwarfs lost their kingdom and why they are going on this quest. This was not in the book.

One thing I really enjoyed was all the songs sung by the dwarfs. I think that they really added to the mood of the scenes. Unfortunately, all the songs in the book were not in the movie. Throughout the book songs were sung by the elves and goblins that were not included in the movies. I also thought that the costumes perfectly represented each character and were well thought out. Bilbo's for example, exquisitely captured his personality. As he started out he was clad in fancier clothing and as his point of view changed throughout the story and he became more passionate about the adventure, his clothes grew dirty.

Although this film doesn't stick religiously to the original book, it does an excellent job of bringing Tolkien's book to life. Nothing can replace the original story as imagined by a reader. Nevertheless the special effects and scenery were incredible and come pretty close to how I pictured it would look. I would watch again.