Homeless Dwarfs

 

The long awaited movie "The Hobbit" arrived a few weeks ago and true to my word, I went to see it. Being a 'prequel' to "The Lord of the Rings" Trilogy, it had big shoes to fill. I did not read the book before hand, like I did for the previous trilogy, so I had no expectations.

The dwarf nation, mighty in power and rich in gold, idolized the wealth and soon a usurper conquered them and is now hidden away inside the mountain that used to be the dwarf kingdom. There was a remnant of dwarf survivors, and among these arise a hand full of brave warriors whose goal is to restore the kingdom. Besides themselves, they have a wizard, Gandalf, and a Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins.

They set off with a map that holds a secret, and a key to an unknown door. The adventure begins and soon there are all manner of evil trolls, orcs, and other mutants attacking them, either trying to eat them, or deter them from their quest. The special effects, costumes, and sets are breathtaking in their scope and their authenticity. It was indeed entertaining. The movie is, however, flawed.

Several of the scenes would have been much more effective had they been trimmed down a bit. The three trolls trying to roast dwarfs on a spit is great, but a bit long and gets tiresome. Same goes for the 'rock monsters' and the games that Baggins plays with Golam in the shallow waters of the underworld.

I also felt there was not enough character development. I could not identify with any of the characters, except perhaps for the Hobbit, who just wanted to go back home and live in peace. He shows some emotion about his situation and feels rejection by his comrades. The others, I just didn't care about. Had one of them been beheaded, I would not have missed him.

Three hour movies are the trend these days, and I read about an app for your device that lets you know when a boring part comes so you can sneak out to the bathroom to have a break. There would have been a few in this movie. I thought the studios all knew that a movie cannot do well on visuals alone. You need a story and great characters, just like a good book.

3 stars