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!

Hobbit Update

This is a bit late but, I figured I'd post it any way. If you haven't heard, Peter Jackson settled his lawsuite with New Line Films out of court. He also signed a deal with New Line and MGM to produce "The Hobbit" and a film linking it to the Lord of the Rings films. Folks from New Line have stated that it is Jackson's project. One big question a number of people are asking is who is going to direct "The Hobbit." Jackson's schedule is very full right now. He finished shooting the movie "Lovely Bones" and he committed to making the first Tintin movie. MGM announced a release date for "The Hobbit" of Christmas 2010 with the follow-up movie coming out a year later. Jackson reportedly plans to shoot both movies in sequence one after another.

One potential big problem for "The Hobbit" is the screenwriter's strike. This needs to be resolved so that they can come up with a script for "The Hobbit." Another question is where are they going to shoot it. Supposedly, this is up in the air too though I can't imagine them shooting it any where else but New Zealand. One advantage they'll have if they shoot it in New Zealand is they'll be able to re-use the area outside Mata Mata where they shot the Hobbiton scenes. While they removed a lot the sets from this location, the Hobbit holes are still there. It shouldn't take them that long to make them usable again. Also, they could re-use the sets they had for Bilbo's home at Bag End.

I'm delighted that Jackson will be producing and hopefully directing "The Hobbit." It'll be awesome to return to Middle-Earth again. I still watch parts of the Lord of the Rings films and marvel at what Jackson did. They are film making at its best. Bring on Christmas of 2010. I definitely have a present to look forward to that year. Cheers all!

Globus Travel Site

As I mentioned previously, Globus now has a website (http://www.exchangetravelstories.com) where travellers can tell of their adventures on various tours with the Globus chain (they have 5 different travel companies). I decided to tell of the G'day Australia tour with Auckland add-on I took back in January 24, 2004 to February 8, 2004. It was the best tour I've ever been on. Our tour guide Jann Elphinstone was absolutely fantastic. I got to do so many cool things and the people in our group were so nice. I was terribly saddened when it was over. It's because of that tour that I'm looking so much to the Scandanavia tour.

Anyway, I had to do my narrative in six parts: Sydney, Cairns, Alice Springs, Ayers Rock, Melbourne and Auckland. We'll see if they post them. Also, I looked for stories on their tours to Scandanavia. I'd like to know how good they are. Sadly, no one has posted anything from those countries. It looks like I'll have to find out when I go on the tour.