The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey

Martin Freeman steps into, hairy topped super-sized feet and all, the role of the “young” Bilbo Baggins.  It’s the beginning of a new trilogy, this time a prequel to the Lord of the Rings.  I’m almost ashamed to admit this, but I don’t recall ever reading the Hobbit or L.O.T.R., so my sole exposure to these terribly tall tales comes from the animated film of the same name in the 70’s (Rankin Bass produced The Hobbit in 1977, and Ralph Baskhi did L.O.T.R. in 1972 along with a very, shall we say frisky, The Nine Lives of Fritz The Cat).  There was also a popular song about Bilbo that most of the members of the audience under 40 would have a difficult time recalling.  

Hobbits, it seems, have a penchant for potatoes, pumpkins, fish, and alcohol – wine or ale, doesn’t really matter.  They’re light on their feet, incredibly nice, unless, of course, you stumble upon enchanted rings and turn into bug-eyed anorexic looking snaggle-toothed schizophrenic creatures like Gollum.  For anyone who has seen the L.O.T.R., you know exactly what I’m talking about.  For those of you who don’t, well, it might be worth your while to spend a bit of time watching this 9 hour epic to “catch-up” on the history of Hobbits, Gandalf the Grey, Sauroman the White, Radagast the Brown, the thirteen dwarves who are on a quest to gain back their home, and learn a bit of the Elvish language so you don’t have to read the subtitles.  Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, and a new Elf King, Lee Pace, stir the pot a bit and we learn how the famous fellowship came into being and spawned a new adventure.

Peter Jackson has the done a crack-up job with both pieces of classic literature, beautifully filmed and expertly delivered to us.  Time flies when you're having fun and this is fun.  Quick, can you name the 7 dwarves from Snow White?  I can, but I'm not even going to attempt this list.  For those of you who want to relive vertigo, it's available in 3-D and IMAX....I don't want to go there, so watching it as a regular movie is just fine, thanks.  Rating - 4 Stars