The Hobbit

Having ventured into the imaginary world of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings in my youth, you can imagine my excitement at the prospect of delving, once again, into Tolkien`s magical adventure, in Peter Jackson`s latest installment. The film, I found to be fantastic... mostly.

My biggest complaint had to be that it was too long. It felt like we were trapped in the Shire for far too long, and, I did fear at one stage, that it was teetering dangerously close to the edge of a cheesy musical sequence I had once seen in a west end fringe musical. Don`t get me wrong, I love musicals, however, The Hobbit is not a musical. I won`t spoil it for you, but, I guarantee you`ll know exactly what I`m talking about when you see it. In parts, I also felt like there was violence for the sake of violence. I understand that the film is only "based" on the book, but, the book really isn`t that long, and I don`t see how they can make it into three movies. Part of me feels like they`re simply cashing in on the popularity of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy...

I`m not the biggest fan of 3D films. It felt lately that people were making 3D films just for the sake of it, but, I really enjoyed the fact that this was in 3D. I`ve heard a lot of people having mixed views about the fact that it was filmed using 48 frames per second. Now, I`ll be the first person to put my hands up and say I don`t understand any of this technical mumbo jumbo. But, I did feel like I was more present in the film. By that, I mean that although I was sitting in the cinema watching the action unfold, I felt closer to the characters. Now, maybe that`s because I`m a huge Tolkien fan, but, I definitely felt something different. And, I liked it. I can`t fault the casting in this one, I thought everyone was fantastic. But, my over all praise goes to Andy Serkis. Gollum has always held a special place in my heart, and Serkis simply blew me away.

I can`t say that I thought it was the best film I`ve ever seen, but, I think that has a lot to do with the fact that I read it when I was younger, and my imagination will never be beaten. But, I will say that I do feel that Jackson has done justice to the story and to the characters.

If you`re in two minds as to whether you should see it, do it! You won`t regret it!

Rating: 8/10