Sleepy Hobbits wandered in a daze through our house and a myriad of activities on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and then after over-sleeping on Monday, rushed out of the house abruptly for expected journeys to an orthondontist, and to the last day of our homeschool co-op before Christmas break.
Despite experiencing sleep deprivation over a packed full weekend, we loved seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at 12:01 a.m. Friday morning. The theatre rocked with Hobbit and LOTR enthusiasts, many of whom dressed in full costumes as hobbits, elves, a number of Gandalf impersonators, a few trolls, and a Dad we know dressed as a Nazgul. (Not my hubby but a friend of his) The joy of watching the movie with a dozen or so old friends, and several hundred new friends (made while chatting about all our favorites parts of the book for three hours before the movie started) was eclipsed only by the movie itself.
After several charade and skit renditions of LOTR scenes, and a rousing rendition of The Green Dragon song, the lights went low, voices lulled to mere murmurs, and then cheered as the first glimpse of the Shire came into view.
The history and richness of Middle Earth was played to the full through Jackson's direction. Bilbo's character and conversations came to life with the excellent acting of Martin Freeman. We were "Good Morninged" properly, sung to by Dwarves throwing plates and then more somberly around the fire, left with a sense of emptiness when Bilbo awakes to discover the Dwarves have already left without him . . .and then the adventure kicks into high gear. I don't want to spoil it for you, if you haven't already seen it, but I highly encourage you to go, even if you haven't read the book.
You really, really need to read The Hobbit. I don't care if you can't make it through LOTR's massive pages of description, at least read The Hobbit. I feel (and I'm being completely subjective and biased about this) that it's Tolkien's best book ever. It was the first one I ever read, and I read it for the first time near the end of my third grade year. Then I read it again and again, and again, and again. In fifth grade, I pulled my first all night reading session over a re-read of The Hobbit. It's also the best Tolkien book for reading aloud to your loved ones, or listening to on cd/tape/MP3.
Having said that, you might realize that I am a bit of a Hobbit purist. In other words, I had a tough time with the fact that Jackson brought in all those other parts of Middle Earth history and background to the movie. I want to watch it again, just knowing that it will be there. I should have known going in, but I still found myself muttering under my breath "but that didn't happen in the Hobbit" at different points in the movie. Thankfully, I was sitting next to a few other purists who were doing the same thing so they didn't think I'd gone Gollum on them.
Speaking of Gollum, I loved the riddle scene although I think at least one riddle was left out. I have to check my book on that.
If you want a more unbiased, less Hobbit-centered review, check out Jamie's awesome review at Mithril Wisdom. He has a better take on Jackson's directorial decisions, and I found myself wishing I had read his review first.
I did see it in 3D with all the fancy stuff, but since I'm not fond of 3D and only watched it that way for my kids, and of course the green Hobbit 3D glasses with the quote inside them, I can't give a review on the technical aspects.
One last thing today . . .and definitely not the least,
I want to say thank you to Cherie Reich! I won an autographed copy of The Nightmare Collection, an autographed copy of Gravity: The Complete Trilogy, and a $10 gift card!!! WOW!!! THANKS for the early Christmas present, Cherie!!!
9 comments:
Congratulations!
I'd read that Jackson pulled a lot from the appendix, which Tolkien added later to tie The Hobbit in with LOTR. So the extra didn't surprise me. It was a little long, but a very rich and charming experience. Definitely looking forward to the next one.
Haven't seen it yet but looking forward to it - even if it is packed chock full with stuff that wasn't in the book :)
Thanks for your spoiler-free review! We're waiting till my daughter's term ends to go see it at a matinee together.
And I agree that the Hobbit is the Tolkien book to read if you haven't tried him yet. It's so, so funny and much faster paced than LoTR.
Alex - Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed the movie! I'm looking forward to the next one too.
mshatch - hope you get to see it soon.
Laurel - You're welcome! The Hobbit is definitely much faster than LOTR.
They sort of mangled the 'teaching his grandmother to suck eggs" line, too. And didn't mention "escaping goblins to be caught by wolves" when they said "out of the frying pan into the fire" :-) #purist
hobbit was the best book! hope to see movie w/cousins next week =)
and congrats on your prize!
A very wonderful movie. I had a lot of fun seeing it, even if it was terribly late like when you went. (You had to way three hours before? I have a friend who had to do that as well. Sometimes it is nice living in a smaller town I suppose.)
The 3D impressed me more then others I've seen this year. I liked it in Tintin, but could only see it during a few scenes. This one had more where it stuck out.
I loved the detail, especially in the Dwarves' home. And Martin Freeman was brilliant. I now feel bad for doubting him when he was first cast.
Aw, yes, I know about those waking up and remembering things I forgot in the book, writing wise I mean. Usually though it happens to me when I'm just about to fall asleep, and then I wake up and can't go back to sleep. Authors don't need sleep though, I suppose. *Smirk*
Oh! They had costumes at the theatre you went to! How fun! I would have loved to have seen that. (The downside of a small town.) I saw one Gandalf and one Hobbit - he was a brave soul and wore flip flops. He hadn't the hairy feet though, which he probably regretted. I saw no others though, though there was a Harry Potter girl there. I almost told her she was a bit lost but didn't know what kind of sense of humor she had.
I emailed you about the interview/ guest post, didn't I? I thought I had, but I often forget these things. if I didn't then yes, I would be most honoured to do either.
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