"The Hobbit" Lacks Holes

Review: Film

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure

Run Time: 169 minutes

Release Date: 2012

Motion Picture Rating: PG-13

Rating: ****

IMDB.COM

            The Hobbit is a wonderful masterpiece of lovable characters, insightful history, and intriguing scenery.

Plot

           Just before Bilbo’s birthday party, Bilbo feels the need to tell Frodo the whole story of his adventures, which he does in a book format.  The stories goes as this: the dwarf kingdom has long been captured by Swaug the terrible, a greedy dragon who never leaves its lute.  Sixty years after the dwarves defeat a team of 14, including Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, goes in to win back their home.

NEGATIVE INFLUENCES

Sexual Themes

None, (though there are two people who looked debatably flirty in my opinion).

Language

There was a pun using the word “balls.” (When a dwarf and Bilbo are talking about crocket, the dwarf says that for someone to play the game, they should have the balls for it.)

Violence

There is a lot of violence.  There are multiple battles/fight scenes that occurs with lots of sword slashing.  It isn’t that detailed and bloody, but a few people/creatures get beheaded.

Drug/Alcohol Use

The people in this movie recreationally drink (red wine, grog, and ale) and smoke with pipes.

Length

The movie is almost 3 hours, so one may beg the question “does the movie drag on?”  This, of course, just depends directly on the viewer.  I myself was struggling towards the end.  The story line, characters, and detail made the movie enjoyable, but most people are not use to sitting still for a movie of that duration.  I believe this movie may depend on how much of a Tolkien fan a person may be.

POSITIVE ATTRIBUTES

Music

The music was both instrumental and vocal.  There were two or three songs that were sung, which contributed to the character development, history, and mood.  There was also some instrumental music, which contributed to the mood and culture in general.

Characters

The acting contributed to the story lined and were developed adequately.  Older Bilbo, Gandalf, and Frodo’s character seemed to relate to their personality in the other movies.  The dwarf leader, Thorin, walked with confidence and pride.  Young Bilbo was whimsical, to say the least.  His personality, including his ambivalence, rightly aligned with someone who was both a Baggins (simple living) and a Took (an adventurer).  And other characters were jolly, but strong.

Scenes

The scenes were wonderful and plenty.  Each was filled with such detail – from the caves and the forest to Rivendale and Bilbo’s house.  Also, various scenes connect to or expand the details in previous movies.  For example, we see Frodo put up Bilbo’s sign on the front gate that says “No Admittance.”  This sign is present in the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring.  

Lessons

The movie is a tale of good versus evil, loyalty, friendship, and courage.  In this movie, courage is not defined by the chances one takes, but more so the ones that people do not.  In one scene, Gandalf teaches young Bilbo that courage is not measured by knowing when to kill, but knowing when to spare a life.  The viewers see that Bilbo learns this lesson later on when faced with a particular situation.

Conclusions

Overall, the movie is wonderful.  One may want to restrict their kids – at least of a younger age group – against the violence that the movie has.  The drug use seems particular to that time and culture; they are also all of age.  The biggest problem one has to deal with is the movie length.  But compared to the characters, music, and scenery, it was all so marvelous.

On another note: this is the first installation of a three.  The next installation, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is supposed to come out in 2013, and the third “There and Back Again” should be out by 2014.