Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) lives a simple life with his fellow hobbits in the shire, until the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen), arrives and convinces him to join a group of dwarves on a quest to reclaim the kingdom of Erebor. The journey takes Bilbo on a path through treacherous lands swarming with orcs, goblins, and other dangers, not the least of which is an encounter with Gollum (Andy Serkis) and a simple gold ring that is tied to the fate of Middle Earth in ways Bilbo cannot even fathom.
Peter Jackson’s decision to split J.R.R. Tolkien’s slim classic “The Hobbit” into three gargantuan epic movies caused a furor of sorts at the time of its release. That’s a mere three hundred pages expanded into almost nine hours of celluloid. Fans regarded it with cynicism; they saw a cash grab, claiming that Jackson was piggybacking off the success of his “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, rather than being guided by inspired creative decisions. Three films equal three times the profit, after all… or at least that’s the daring bet the filmmaker placed when filming all three chapters back-to-back (good thing he didn’t follow suit with the box-office bomb “Mortal Engines, which he wrote and produced).
Said “furor” did not stop the trilogy from banking almost $3B at the worldwide box-office. Pissed as they may have been, fans clearly craved to delve back into Middle-earth, albeit with fading enthusiasm. I personally attribute that dwindling of passion to the diminishing returns of the trilogy. As “The Hobbit” grew more epic, and distanced itself from what made it so special in the first place — namely, its titular protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, perfectly played by the wonderful Martin Freeman — it lost its sense of wonder and discovery, of true inspiration and vision, resorting instead to bombastic action and — Jackson’s curse — a series of sentimental endings heaped upon each other.
Up until that slide in focus — which starts to happen towards the end of the second chapter, “The Desolation of Smaug,” and accelerates (read: spirals downwards, hard) through “The Battle of Five Armies” — Jackson perfectly conveys Tolkien’s spirit, not to mention the imagery the author evoked and the characters he described. I like the fact that Jackson doesn’t rush through it, allowing us to experience the setting (which he knows and loves so much, better than anyone else on Earth, or Middle-earth, for that matter), and taking his time with the introductions.
As such, the first chapter, “An Unexpected Journey,” which marks the beginning of Bilbo’s quest to the Lonely Mountain, is pure cinematic joy: enchanting, gorgeously shot, with a cast of characters both familiar (Ian McKellen’s Gandalf, Ian Holm’s Old Bilbo, Hugo Weaving’s Elrond, Cate Blanchett’s Galadriel — even Elijah Wood’s Frodo makes an appearance!) and fresh (James Nesbitt’s Bofur, Richard Armitage’s Thorin, among many others).
As Bilbo embarks on his quest — assigned to him by Gandalf (Ian McKellen) himself — to help a group of boisterous Dwarves get their home (and gold) back from Smaug, an ancient dragon, he encounters trolls, the wizard Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy), Orcs, Stone Giants, Goblins — and, of course, the film’s highlight: Gollum, once again voiced by the one-and-only Andy Serkis. The scene where Frodo engages in a battle of wits with the infamous former Stoor Hobbit and ends up getting THE RING, sparks with pure cinematic inspiration.
Martin Freeman is a revelation as Bilbo. It’s the rare case of “seemingly off-kilter but in fact perfect casting.” From rapping with Ali G to making fun of his boss in the original “The Office” to crushing it as the hapless hero of FX’s series “Fargo” (not to mention his memorable appearances in Marvel films), the actor’s displayed impressive range, but as it turns out, he was born to play this part. His performance blends naivety, bravery, and what can only be described as a mixture of forlornness and snuggly charm. He’s eminently likable and easy to root for.
This makes it that much more disappointing when Jackson & Co. veer away from him a little in the second part of the trilogy, “The Desolation of Smaug.” This is where Jackson’s forceful extension of the succinct book is first truly felt. Much attention is spent on Elves, Gandalf, Thorin, the Orc leader Azog (Manu Bennett), and The Necromancer, who ends up defeating Gandalf. Our heroes’ quest becomes a tad protracted, with Bilbo and his team tumbling in barrels through rivers and getting acquainted with the citizens of Esgaroth. Luckily, there’s Benedict Cumberbatch’s awe-inspiring, but also cheeky, dragon Smaug to make up for Freeman’s absences. The finale makes all the blemishes worth it.
Things fall apart in part three, “The Battle of the Five Armies.” Bogged down in, yes, protracted battles, heavy exposition, and what seems like a hundred extended finales, the concluding chapter delegates Bilbo further to the background. Big mistake. It’s all impressive and spectacularly produced, but the soul is gone.
While not quite reaching the heights of “The Lord of the Rings,” “The Hobbit” trilogy a gorgeous-but-flawed achievement, an example of storytelling at the grandest, most epic scale imaginable — and so much more than a mere cash-grab. Would it have made a better, more concise standalone film? Perhaps. But only a few directors can pull this off these days: put so much heart and intimate sentiment into something so grand (Spielberg, del Toro, Nolan, Jackson) … With COVID-19 having decimated Hollywood productions at the level/scale, this is a great opportunity to revisit a trilogy that seems to have jumped straight from the source onto the screen… with every footnote and annotation included.
“The Hobbit” trilogy is now available for the first time on 4K Ultra HD
