The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey

I was excited to go see “The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey.” I was a fan of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, seeing all three as they premiered in one of Seattle’s best theaters. I have all three on DVD. I eagerly waited for “The Hobbit” since it was decided that it was going to be made with some of the original cast.

So I waited.

And waited.

Finally the first part of the planned two-part trilogy came. I was not disappointed, but found it strangely familiar, in the sense it was a second trilogy following up an original trilogy that explained how it came about.

My God, I was watching the superior version of “Star Wars!”

The first Star Wars Trilogy was about our young hero becoming the last of his kind to save the galaxy from tyranny. It involved a long journey to avoid the army of darkness at every turn, and the hero facing down the choices needed to save and protect the ones he loved. The second trilogy explains how we got there, by exploring the histories of several key players.

This simple analogy is now happening to “The Lord of the Rings” using “The Hobbit” and some other materials to tie into the original trilogy. I believe though that “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit” edges out “Star Wars” with its clarity and narrative. In “An Unexpected Journey,” we are introduced to the phantom menace.

I don’t remember much of “The Hobbit” in reading the books. It has been nearly three decades since I read it. I remember getting a paperback copy while grocery shopping with my dad, who would buy me a book or magazine to read. I also don’t remember the Rankin and Bass animated version of the movie. I only remember bits and pieces of the novel and some of the animated movie.

At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to Bilbo Baggins writing his memoir, inspired by his beloved nephew Frodo. This was how it began for “The Lord of the Rings- The Fellowship of the Ring.” This segues into Bilbo writing down his story about everything that went on before.

The narrative starts with the story about the Dwarf kingdom of Erebor situated in the Lonely Mountain. The citadel was prosperous, sharing its wealth with the nearby human town of Dale. It was a place recognized by the elves as well. That all came to an end as Smaug the dragon came, attracted to the vast wealth that Erebor had. The dragon savaged the town and forced the dwarves from their home. A young Thorin, son of King Thranduil survives the sudden siege, developing a hatred for the elves as they did not come to Erebor’s aid.

Bilbo was a simple Hobbit, somewhat well to do with a nice home. He was visited by a man in a gray robe, by the name of Gandalf. He was an old friend of the family and the Shire, who came to seek out Bilbo with a preposition. Bilbo dismisses this and retires into his home and settles down for a meal. Before leaving, Gandalf carves a Rune into the door.

As Bilbo settles into eating his dinner, there came a knock at the door. The dwarf Dwalin came and let himself in. Before long, eleven others showed up: Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Nori, Dori, and Ori. They take over Bilbo’s home and feast, waiting for their leader to come. Gandalf also is here sharing in the merriment much to Bilbo’s dismay.

After a long meal, the last of their company comes, Thorin Oakenshield.  The company of dwarves came this way to seek out a burglar to help them reclaim their homeland of the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug. Gandalf had wanted Bilbo to partake in this adventure, remembering the curious and rambunctious one of the past. The hobbit’s size and stature can often go unnoticed by many creatures, making for a good burglar. Bilbo does not wish to participate.

Bilbo changes his mind after a night’s rest. He catches up with the company with a signed contract to be their thief. They journey and camp, only to come across a trio of trolls who tried to eat their horses. Captured in trying to free the horses, the dwarves became their captives and soon to be food.

Bilbo manages to stall for time to save the dwarves from becoming a meal. The others do not quite catch on until dawn, where  Gandalf shatters a stone, the sunlight engulfing the trolls and turning them into stone. After being freed, they examine the trolls’ cache of hoardings. Here they discover the elven swords of Glamdring, Orcrist, and Sting among the treasures.

Continuing their travels, they come across Radagast the Brown, who warns them of some potential danger coming. He tells them of his encounters with poisons corrupting his home, and of huge spiders coming through the woods. His encounter with a necromancer who may have somehow revived the Witch-Kiing of Agmar, peaked Gandalf’s interest, along with evidence.

They are pursued by orcs. Radagast manages to decoy the orcs long enough to give the elves a chance to flee, but the orcs  catch on to the ruse and pursue the group, where they try and make a stand. They manage to stave off many of the orcs, using a cave as cover. The remaining orcs are slain by elves. The groups of dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf have found themselves at the edge of Rivendell.

They are welcomed by Lord Elrond, who was part of the party that killed the invading orcs. He offers the dwarves shelter and food. Gandalf seeks Lord Elrond’s advice on aiding the dwarves. Thorin is angered by this, due to his hatred of the elves. Elrond proves to be an ally by deciphering a map given to Thorin. Hidden on the map are the clues to accessing a secret passage into the Lonely Mountain. With this newfound knowledge, Thorin has renewed hope of retaking the Lonely Mountain.

Gandalf is met by members of the White Council: Saruman, Galadriel, and Elrond. He tells them of his encounter with Radagast and the necromancer who may have awaken the Witch-King of Angmar. Saruman dismisses this as the ramblings of a wizard that he personally dislikes.  Galadriel takes Gandalf’s side, especially with presenting the evidence of the sword recovered by Radagast.

The dwarves leave Rivendell to continue on in their journey. They come upon a battle of stone giants as they scale the Misty Mountains.  Barely surviving their encounter, Bilbo has second thoughts about being with the dwarves, and plans to leave them. This is mostly due to Thorin’s distrust of outsiders. Before Bilbo leaves, the group is captured by goblins. They are taken to the Great Goblin where the dwarves learn that Azog the Defiler, an old foe of Thorin’s that had survived the battle of the mines of Moria, where Thorin defeated him.

Bilbo was able to elude capture, but only briefly as a goblin found him. In their struggle, Bilbo was thrown deep into the goblin’s cave. Regaining consciousness, he is almost discovered by another creature. This wheezing and hacking creature dragged the goblin away to eat it. The creature was Gollum. He drops a simple looking gold ring while struggling with the goblin. Bilbo picks up what he thinks is a simple trinket.

Gollum soon discovered Bilbo and planned to murder and eat him. Bilbo manages to keep Gollum at bay with his sword. Soon Gollum and Bilbo engage in a game of riddles with Bilbo’s life at stake. Bilbo manages to trick Gollum into losing, angering him. Bilbo flees the enraged Gollum, who closely pursues him. In the pursuit, the ring is slipped onto Bilbo’s finger and he vanishes.

Bilbo is startled by the shift into invisibility. He quietly follows Gollum, who seemingly heads for the exit.

Meanwhile,  the dwarves are freed by Gandalf, who at last catches up with the group.  The goblins are startled as Gandalf and Thorin wield Glamdring and Orcrist, legendary weapons against the goblins. The dwarves and Gandalf flee towards the surface with a hoard of goblins in pursuit.

The group manages to escape the hoard. Bilbo comes across their escape; Gollum had led him to the entrance of the goblin cave. Instead of killing him, Bilbo instead spares Gollum’s life out of pity and escapes. Gollum is enraged as he learns that Bilbo had escaped with his ‘Precious.’

Bilbo is reunited with Gandalf and the dwarves. Their reunion is cut short by Azog, his orcs, and Wargs. Azog hunts down the dwarves and literally strands them at the edge of a cliff in trees.  Gandalf manages to start a fire to stave off the Wargs. Here, Thorin has a showdown with his old foe wielding Orcrist.

This near three-hour long epic is a fine reintroduction to Middle Earth. It mixes in some of the past from the first trilogy into the storytelling. It is a nice segue into the story. The pacing of the movie seemed almost even with events unfolding in a rather organic manner. The important drama is not rushed and is quite in-depth, outlining the hidden fears of what happens in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

The many action and battle sequences are not as thrilling to me as I had seen them before in the first movie trilogy. Many of them were there to propel the story along, and were not long.

Sir Ian McKellan gives a great performance as Gandalf, giving him the facets we only saw at the beginning of “The Fellowship of the Ring,” where he was more mischievous and less of a leader. Richard Artimage portrays Thorin with a world weariness air and prejudice to the character. Martin Freeman owns the role of a younger Bilbo Baggins, where he gives Bilbo some underlying courage and wit.

I found myself to be completely enthralled by the movie, both being pleasantly surprised by and being reintroduced to the faintly remembered story. It is quite action packed, with just the right amount of plot and character development. It was quite an enjoyable movie.

When I realized that “The Hobbit” was to be made into a trilogy, I began to notice the similarities that it was now following that the “Star Wars” saga followed. While both stories are very different, they are following a similar path in how the story is told and in some cases organized. I believe that “The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey” does a much better job in the way it story is presented.

Overall, “The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey” is a great start to what I hope to be a fantastic trilogy.