The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Review

"I'm going on an ADVENTURE!"

Those were words that I could definitely relate to prior to seeing the first of The Hobbit films. Middle-Earth was my home as a child and so to go back to it again as a young adult in his 20s was like a dream trip down memory lane. But sometimes going back to your past can have two different conclusions: you either relive the old days or you regret coming back because the magic is gone. Well...

The Plot

When the Grey Wizard, Gandalf (Ian McKellan), offers a hobbit, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), the chance to go on an adventure, he quickly refuses. But when 13 dwarves arrive at his doorstep led by the rightful King Under the Mountain, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), Biblo finds himself being dashed away from the comfortable life of Bag End to the dangerous journey to the Lonely Mountain. Their mission? Retake The Lonely Mountain from the Great Wyrm, Smaug.

And that is only the beginning of their journey...

Review

As a Lord of the Rings fan and a Peter Jackson fan... I was disappointed. Was it because I have high expectations? No. My main problem with the film is how it follows the trend of splitting singular books into multiple films. I was completely fine when Jackson and his team announced the film was going to be split into two movies. I was certain there was enough material in there that can be stretched that long without resulting to fatigue. But when it was announced that so much was filmed that they can now turn it into three movies, that's when I started lowering my expectations. And my biggest fears were right.

I should be used to having an over 2 hour yet under 3 hour Middle-Earth film by now but for some reason, this movie doesn't do it for me. I just kept thinking to myself a lot of what happens in this movie is extremely unnecessary as it takes nearly an hour, maybe less but almost an hour, for Biblo to decide that going on an adventure with Gandalf and the Dwarves is a good idea. It just really feels like a very slow drag and not the type of drag that happens occasionally in movies. This entire movie is just one huge drag. And this is mainly due to the very sad attempt of trying to flush out the personalities of ALL the dwarves that go on this journey.

I'm not a hardcore Tolkien fan who knows all the names of the dwarves, but if a movie is effective in making everyone's introduction memorable then I should remember most of them. Unfortunately, I don't. I don't even remember the names of the ones played by James Nesbitt and the other dwarf who seems to be friendly towards Freeman's Bilbo. The only ones I remember clearly are Kili (the one who seems too good looking for a dwarf), Bombur (the obnoxiously fat dwarf with the crazy beard) and of course Richard Armitage's Thorin (this story's Aragorn but not as noble). Those three dwarves had something distinct about them that made them standout more so than the others. Don't get me wrong, they all look visually distinct from one another. But as far as being visually distinct and having personalities, that goes to Thorin, Kili and Bombur. But then again, Thorin should be the one with the most personality. But unfortunately he comes off as the most unlikeable dwarf amongst the crew, and this guy is suppose to be a main character. It is not Armitage's fault, the character was just written that way.

Then there's the returning cast members who mostly comprise The White Council. These being McKellan's Gandalf, Cate Blanchett's Galadriel, Hugo Weaving's Elrond and Christopher Lee's Saruman. They are all very welcoming returns and in fact probably one of the few things I liked most in the movie. Though Gandalf and Elrond are players in the book, the addition of Galadriel and Saruman was definitely meant as a way to tie in to The Lord of the Rings. There really isn't much to say about their performances because they're in it for a short while, but they are good. But there is a new member amongst the White Council who proved to be another highlight I enjoyed about the movie. That character is Radagast the Brown played by former Doctor Who, Sylvester McCoy. It's always refreshing to see another wizard in the mix, even though he's not in the book. Amazingly he's not involved in this story at all, but it was nice seeing someone crazier than Gandalf.

But if we're going to talk about the old and the new cast there are definitely two standouts of this film.  That being Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Andy Serkis as Gollum. Freeman is just perfect as Bilbo and he completely owns the role as his own. He doesn't feel beholden to Ian Holm's small portrayal of him in The Lord of the Rings, but it definitely feels like his Bilbo could grow up to become Holm's Bilbo. And what more can be said about Andy Serkis as Gollum. He's perfection, and is definitely one of the fond memories of Middle-Earth you'll be happy to revisit. Their pivotal meeting appropriately known as "Riddles in the Dark," is hands down the best scene in the film. Freeman is excellent and the effects on Gollum are outstanding. If only the rest can be said about the other effects in the film.

Peter Jackson pulls a George Lucas by overusing CGI in this movie. Sure there are lots of nice wide shots New Zealand here and there, but for some reason the overtly CG gloss on the creatures and the locations comes off as...off putting. It doesn't have the same grit that the previous trilogy had, and this is pretty disappointing for someone who loved the use of practical and CG effects. But in here, even if there are practical effects, they are completely overshadowed by an overload of CGI. One of the most jarring ones for me was noticing that the Orcs and Goblins were no longer guys in costumes. Apparently Jackson had filmed them with guys in makeup and costumes, but was so dissatisfied that he had them all replaced with CGI monsters that he finds more appealing. While that explains why someone as imposing as Manu Bennet is playing the White Orc, Azog, as a CGI character, it seems sad that Bennet is doing motion capture for a role that doesn't require motion capture. I mean, the guy was in Spartacus for crying out loud! But alas, he was a last minute replacement so he had to be CGI. But that doesn't excuse the excessive nature that Jackson and his team have thrown into this movie.

Final Thoughts

This trip down memory lane has proven to be a disappointing one. While it is great to see some solid performances by newcomers Martin Freeman and Sylvester McCoy alongside old timers such as Ian McKellan and Hugo Weaving, that isn't enough to save the film. Too much CGI in a film franchise that was praised for being the perfect balance of practical and CGI. Poor attempts at trying to develop a huge number of dwarves that we don't really care about, and that includes the one who is suppose to be the main character, Thorin. And this movie is pretty much the living proof of the Clerks 2 complaint: THIS MOVIE IS NOTHING BUT TWO AND A HALF HOURS OF WALKING! WALKING! And not the interesting kind like in Fellowship. I mean the boring kind. 

SCORE: 6/10 - There's still wonder, but a lot of it seems to be missing...and boring

For a review of the next film, CLICK HERE

Rurouni Kenshin (2012 Film) - Analysis and Review

Hey! Where's the U.S. Blu Ray Release?

That is the question that I asked myself when I first saw this film recently. How I did that, I will not say, but just know that when this film finally gets to the states I will BUY it. I'm currently writing this in the year 2014 when this film premiered in Japan and some U.S. cities in 2012 which to this day has still not been given a Blu Ray release in the U.S. Now I'm writing this review to pave way for the inevitable premier of its two sequels this year in August. And I can guarantee that I will not be able to see them here in the U.S. until later or through alternate means.

The Plot

When a wandering swordsman with a reverse blade enters the lives of a young dojo instructor, their world gets completely turned upside down when an opium drug dealer wants to claim the instructor's land for their own. It is up to this mysterious kind swordsman with a strange scar on his face to protect the instructor and those that the drug lord put in harm's way.

Analysis

I don't consider myself an otaku. That was me in Freshmen and Sophomore year in High School. But I do still love me some good anime. And what I always hoped for was a good live action adaptation. However, when this film was announced, I wasn't very interested. Anime and manga adaptations that I have seen prior to this film have always come off looking a little bit cheap. The storytelling was still there but it looks like the production values and cameras used were not up to par with what the story requires. Sometimes I would give those films the benefit of the doubt by just thinking maybe that's how Japanese films look like. But then I saw Japanese films that are not based on a manga or anime. They looked incredible. Which had me thinking, does Japan care about their anime properties enough? Sure, in manga and anime there is more room for storytelling and less money to spend on spectacular effects. But in a world where America is really starting to embrace the goldmine that is the comic book industry, would Japan finally start to pay more attention to their anime properties. From the looks of this film and the latest live action iteration of Lupin the 3rd premiering this year, it looks like it.

Though I am aware that this film was produced by the Japanese branch of Warner Bros. Pictures, which may have contributed a little bit as to why this movie looks like a legitimate movie. It even looks like a film made by the home American Warner Bros. studio, but with Japanese stars. Am I wrong in thinking this way? Because for all I know it was the Japanese studios intent on making it look like an incredible stand alone film. And from the looks of it, whoever idea it was, they succeeded.

Review

I remember seeing this anime when I was younger. Dubbed in English of course, but still had the story in tact mostly. I did read the first few volumes of the manga, so I knew what I was getting into. And I can tell immediately that this story was a mixture of the first story arc all rolled into one big plot. While hardcore purists will immediately be displeased by this. But for anime fans who are just happy to see their characters being brought to life on the big screen with a story that seems familiar yet new, this is definitely the movie they've been waiting for. As someone who remember very little, I can even say that I saw this as a viewer with almost no knowledge of the source material yet still enjoyed it. This is a really great movie.

The casting of this film is incredible, with character that really breathe life into these famous hand drawn characters. Takeru Satoh does an incredible job playing Himura Kenshin (the titular Rurouni Kenshin), the seemingly harmless man who gave up a life of violence yet is capable of switching on his badass fighting abilities when needed. A key component of the portrayal of Himura was someone who is able to switch back and forth between innocent and vicious which Satoh does extremely well. Emi Takei does an excellent job portraying the eager dojo instructor Kamiya Kauru. She exudes the right amount of brash thinking, hopeless romantic, yet mature young woman that her character is suppose to be. I could go on and on forever about the cast of this film as they all give really great performances that work well within the story of the film.

Some may be disappointed that the backstories of characters such as Myojin Yahiko, Takani Megumi, and fan favorite Sagara Sanosuke are not flushed out enough, but then again some of the other major players are not flushed out with other major players being left out in general. This is no way a detraction, as I said before, for how they were all utilized in this story it works perfectly fine. That is something that anime AND American comic book fans need to learn about adaptations: THEY CAN'T COVER EVERYTHING. The best filmmakers can do is to hope to craft a story that does the characters justice, and lucky for them they did.

And speaking about craft, this is the second manga/anime live action adaptation that looks really well done, but the first that I actually would consider looking extremely clean throughout the whole movie. I say this because the first film that I'm referring to is the 2010 film Space Battleship Yamato, which had extremely high production values but the CGI didn't look completely rendered and not smooth. Contrast with this film that didn't really need such things (though I have to wonder if Sanosuke's sword was CGI) it is a really beautifully crafted film. From the look, to the costumes, to the incredible sword fights. It found that line of being true to the design of the characters while at the same time grounding it in the historical reality that it is based on. Yes, the fight sequences are heightened, but not to an overblown extreme. I haven't seen samurai sword fighting done this way since 13 assassins, but this is heightened sword fighting that makes it incredible to watch. My props to director Keishi Otomo and his team for a great accomplishment

Final thoughts

An extremely well done film that is a definite crowd pleaser. The story is simple, yet anime fans will appreciate how much of their beloved story lines and character get nicely packed into this simple story. It is a definite good look at the future of anime/manga adaptations. If DeathNote was a stepping stone that led to the higher production values of Space Battleship Yamato then this film is definitely a giant leap to something good.

SCORE: 8/10 - This is a good film that definitely shows a promising future for anime