A "The Hobbit" Movie Review

On Sunday December 23rd, I got to see the new movie "The Hobbit" by Peter Jackson at the Arundel Mills Mall Cinemax Theater. I'd been looking forward for some time to this movie. I expected it to be excellent and, it was. The movie is taken from the book "The Hobbit" written by J. R. R. Tolkien in 1938 though the movie does have some changes from the book.

For starters, the character of Thorin Oakenshield is developed far more. We see him as a brave and inspirational leader determined to reclaim his lost home. Also, we learn more about the Necromancer who turns out to be Sauron who hides in the fortress of Dol Guldur. Another change is the introduction of Radagast the Brown who is living what would become Mirkwood. It's Radagast that discovers the Necromancer and informs Gandalf of it. Another change is the orc Azog. Azog was the orc chieftain living in Moria who started the Dwarf-Orc war that culminated in the battle of Azanulbizar. We see the battle in the movie BUT, the battle takes a different turn from what Tolkien told. Tolkien has Azog killed in the battle by a young (32 years old) Dain Ironfoot. In the movie, Jackson has Thorin cut off part of Azog's arm and, Thorin assumes he dies of his wounds. Azog doesn't and hunts down Thorin and his company with the intent of killing Thorin.

None of these changes hurt the movie and may enhance it. I suspect we'll end up caring more for the character Thorin and his death scene with Bilbo in the 3rd movie will be far more poignant. Also, the movie helps tie in some of what we see in Lord of the Rings. We see where Gandalf got the Elven blade Glamdring and the petrified trolls we see briefly in The Fellowship of the Ring.

Concerning the 3D technology, I saw the movie in XD 3D. I didn't feel any nausea. I did notice that the images were sharper and, I think the colors were brighter. Those helped make the breathtaking outdoors scenes even more stunning. There are scenes that will knock your socks off in that way.

The movie itself is nearly 3 hours long but, it never drags. At the end, I found it hard to believe I had sat for nearly 3 hours in the theater. It didn't feel that long. There is lots of action with some humor thrown in to keep the movie from being too dark. We start to see Bilbo develop discover things about himself he doesn't know are there though I think Gandalf can see them. The movie ends at a good point with the band looking across Mirkwood to the far distant Lonely Mountain which is their ultimate objective. Jackson pans into the mountain and gives us a look inside where we see a huge eye open in a tantalizing glimpse of Smaug.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this movie. Any fan of Middle Earth should be delighted with it. It is so believable and well done. Howard Shore does another fine job score wise with the movie which helps create the appropriate moods. New Zealand itself shows its best in the movie and will tempt lots of people to visit this stunning country. Hopefully, by now, the theaters won't be so jam packed though the movie still pulled in over $35 million this past weekend. It wasn't when I saw the movie though I attended the 11:35 a.m. showing. Folks may be even tempted to see it a 2nd time as I am because, there is a LOT to take in. Happy viewing all!

John Howe Autographed Books

Yesterday, I received my latest order from WETA, the folks that create the sets for the Hobbit movies as well as the costumes, swords, armor and special effects. WETA does some incredible stuff. My order consisted of 3 books of maps that John Howe illustrated - The Road Goes Ever On and On which contains the map of Tolkien's Middle Earth, West of The Mountains East of the Sea which contains a map of Tolkien's Beleriand (a land that existed in Middle Earth's 1st Age) and There and Back Again which contains the map for Tolkien's The Hobbit. All 3 books were autographed by John Howe. Howe and Alan Lee are the 2 artists that have really defined how people envision Tolkien's Middle Earth. When Peter Jackson decided to do the Lord of the Rings movies, he hired these 2 artists to help him show what Middle Earth looked like. I think you can say that Jackson's vision of Middle Earth really is what Howe and Lee imagined it as. Howe is the artist who created the image of Bilbo Baggin's home at Bag End. The rooms that viewers saw of it in the Lord of the Rings movies and will see in The Hobbit movies were created by Howe. His vision of Middle Earth is beautiful and stunning. I wish I could afford to buy a work of his of Middle Earth. I remember seeing one at the Lord of the Rings film exhibition in Indianapolis, Indiana many years ago. It was gorgeous. Unfortunately, it had an $800 plus price tag with it which terrified my wallet. For now, I'll content myself with these 3 neat books. FYI, WETA sells the 3 book set for approximately $84 U.S. Shipping from their New Zealand warehouse was an additional $17.88 U.S. You'll earn 8 WETA dollars with your purchase. The WETA dollars are a nice bonus from shopping at WETA. They can save you real money. I used 32 of mine which knocked the price down to approximately $51 U.S. Remember too, if you spend $500 in 1 year at WETA, they upgrade you to Gold level which gets you an extra 10% more WETA dollars getting you an even better deal. Happy reading all!

The Hobbit Update

I saw on http://www.rottentomatoes.com the latest comments made by director Sam Raimi about making The Hobbit. Raimi has been rumored to New Line Films choice to direct the movie since their falling out with Peter Jackson. According to the Rotten Tomatoes site, Raimi said in an upcoming interview in Entertainment Weekly that if Jackson didn't want to do the film and Bob Shaye (CEO of New Line Films) did and both men gave him their blessing, he'd be happy to make the film. Considering that these two men can't agree on any thing now a days, Raimi would do well to work on other potential projects in my opinion.

Honestly, I don't think The Hobbit will be made until New Line Films loses the rights to it. Saul Zaentz owns the rights permenently from what I understand. He sold them for a set time to New Line. New Line must make The Hobbit in that set time frame. If New Line fails to make the film in that time frame, poo on them. Once that time frame is up, the rights revert back to Zaentz. Zaentz has supposedly shown sympathy to Jackson's beef with New Line and it sounds like he'd be willing to do a deal with Jackson. For your information, Jackson claims there were accounting irregularities with the Lord of the Rings and he wants an independent audit of the movies. New Line has refused to do this and accused Jackson of being greedy i.e. we paid you a quarter of a billion dollars and now you want more. Bob Shaye has said for effective purposes that he has blacklisted Jackson from making The Hobbit. This is where Raimi comes in. It has been rumored that Raimi was approached by New Line about making the film. Considering the enormous differences between Shaye and Jackson, it is extremely unlikely Jackson will make The Hobbit for New Line Films. I've heard the rights will go back to Zaentz sometime in 2009. New Line must start production on the film before then. I haven't heard any word that New Line even has a completed script for the film. If they haven't, the chances of them making the film are very remote.

It is annoying that I'll have to wait till probably 2010 or later to see The Hobbit made by Peter Jackson. Hopefully, Sir Ian McKellen will still be alive then to play the role of Gandalf then. Also, I hope Hugo Weaving will be able to play Elrond. Barring that, none of the other actors actresses will need to return. You can point out there is Sir Ian Holm who played Bilbo but, in my opinion, he'll be way to old to play Bilbo. I think they'll have to get someone else for the part.

If you need a Tolkien fix, there is some good news. Christopher Tolkien finished putting together what will be the last work ever done by J. R. R. Tolkien. Over the years, Tolkien wrote a number of stories about the First Age. The First Age was age when the elves first appeared and created a number of kingdoms. It is also the age when one of the Gods of Middle-Earth rebelled against the supreme God Iluvatar and carved out his own kingdom in Middle-Earth. The novel "Children of Hurin" tells of one man who fought against the dark God and a terrible curse the God laid on him. By all accounts, it isn't a very cheery story. Still, it is previously unpublished Tolkien. The novel also has some outstanding illustrations by Alan Lee who worked on the Lord of the Rings movies and has a number of outstanding illustrations for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. It's in book stores now if you're interested. Cheers all!