“Heeere’s Hollywood!” Peter Jackson yells as he knocks down
the door to that secret little room so many of us used as kids to hide from the
reality of life. That little fantasy-world cubbie-hole which, much like a Hobbit
hole, provided a comfortable and relaxing escape from the horrors of the
outside world.
With The Desolation of
Smaug now out in cinemas there is only one more nail to go before the
classic children’s adventure story is sent down into its little Halfling sized
grave. Oh woe is me, the drama has overcome me and I have been reduced to a
series of metaphors. Let me pull myself together a little so I can talk for a
moment about the first film, The Hobbit:
An Unexpected Journey or as I like to call it Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring without that snotty
little shite Frodo to ruin everything.
The Hobbit: An
Unexpected Journey is based on the first six chapters of “The Hobbit”, a
book made up of a series of sort of misadventures had by a party of dwarves and
a reluctant Hobbit. Their main goal: to get back the lost treasure that was
once theirs. This treasure is what’s known as a MacGuffin, an object of desire
that sets the characters on their way, allowing the plot to move on. The main
focus of the book is the small issues the diminutive party are met with and
how, quite unexpectedly, Bilbo finds himself gradually becoming more valuable.
I feel like we should all take a moment and think about what
Tolkien was trying to say here...
...Have we all got the idea?
...So we’re on the same page?
...Good then I shall continue.
I’m being a little childish really... which is just perfect
because what I’m trying to demonstrate was that Tolkien was writing this for
kids, it is enjoyed by adults of course but the intent was that it is for kids.
It being for kids it has a sort of message to it, one which kids might subtly
pick up on and go, “hmm” to...
The message is this- Hobbits are small. Really small. Like,
they make dwarves feel tall... small. So Bilbo... small... making his way up
the ranks of these dwarves (many of whom are battle hardened and all that jazz)
is proving to these kids that even a small voice can have a big impact. A
lesson, by the way, that can also be learnt by the way from watching Disney’s Lilo and Stitch Television Series... but
I digress. Bilbo is an example for kids to follow.
When you bear this in mind the fact that he has a substance dependency
problem, which is canonical to the way the One Ring works in The Lord of the Rings films, he is a bit of a mixed up person in
Jackson’s interpretation. The Hobbit teaches
us that no matter how small you are you can always do great things, but The Lord of the Rings was a story of
treachery, betrayal and great evil. One does not exactly compliment the other,
not without being vastly altered.
Do you want the point? Okay, well here it is...
The point is that whilst Peter Jackson was the right man for the job when it came to creating the epic battles of The Lord of the Rings his take on The Hobbit does not keep in mind that the two adventures are very different. One is for adults the other for kids, one is about finding Mordor the other is about finding yourself and finally one is about a heap of battles and the other has Bilbo get knocked out at the beginning of the only battle so we cannot see any of the bloodshed at all... it's just not Hobbit-y to see all that blood.
I chose not to see The Desomation of Smaug at the cinema after not having raved at An Unexpected Journey. When people asked why, I couldn't quite put my finger on it - it felt like it was trying to be on the same grand scale as Lord of the Rings, when actually that wasn't how the book The Hobbit ever read to me. Finally I have found a review that pretty much sums up and puts into words how I feel towards the cinematic Hobbit series - a great story translated mistakenbly . But nethertheless I look forward to catching it on TV or DVD sometime.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I see The Hobbit's (book) greatness not in its epicness but in its quaintness- for me the film missed what I believe is the heart of The Hobbit; its childlike wonder. Thanks Emma for your comment, it is greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteAnd I look forward to seeing The Desomation of Smaug on DVD, if only for the fine acting of Martin Freeman :)
If you want the full effect you'll watch it on Blu-Ray not DVD ;). I actually think you're almost over-generous to the film in the review by comparing it to the original trilogy. I fully agree he's trying to plant that same style onto the hobbit which was always going to be a mistake, but stylistically this film felt almost cheap. It didn't have the stunning visual effects, and smoothness you'd expect from the Tolkien film franchise. Elements of it looked downright shoddy, notably the scenes where they are running from the shapeshifter (i forget the real name but the giant wolf), and while they are in the barrells escaping from the elves.
ReplyDeleteAll that said another hot elf is another hot elf and i have no complaints over that.
I read The Hobbit when I was 14 or 15 years old. There are just three things I remember from the book; something about trolls turning to stone, Bilbo riding down a river in a barrel and, most importantly, that I absolutely loved it.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that I can remember so little about it other than I liked it a lot has actually endeared An Unexpected Journey to me. I thought it was fantastic. The fact I remember practically nothing of the story meant that I was able to watch the film without constantly thinking "erm.... that's not quite right" which when you're watching an adaptation of a book, especially a favourite, is a vital mindset.
I haven't seen part 2 yet but I am fairly confident of seeing Bilbo in a barrel at some point and therefore certain of completing my original hat-trick. Luckily for me I'm easily pleased!
Great blog, Oli. Looking forward to reading more.
It's great to hear that the film franchise does play off someones original love of the book Matt. I must say, the troll incident in the film was one of the more entertaining bits- it wasn't exactly like in the book but that doesn't matter so much to me as long as it kept the same tone.
ReplyDeleteOne bit that I did find a bit weird was all that pa-lava with the goblin king... the one with the weird scrotum beard... that was weird.
I personally look forward to seeing the barrel part once The Desolation of Smaug comes out on DVD, and I hope you enjoy it just as much as you enjoyed the first one Matt.
Thanks for your comment and your support!