THE HOBBIT - AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY

Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer

Rated PG-13

Running time: 169 Minutes



Click below to watch The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey trailer.



In MGM's The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey, hobbit Bilbo Baggins, Martin Freeman, is recruited by the wizard Gandolf, Ian McKellen, to help the dwarfs of Middle Earth reclaim their homeland from the dragon Smaug, Benedict Cumberbatch.

Directed by Peter Jackson and co-written by Guillermo del Toro, The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey is the first of three movies that is the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy written by J.R.R. Tolkien. While I have not read the book since college, this film seems like a good adaption to the first half of the book The Hobbit as Freeman goes on an adventure as the company's burglar.

The dwarfs were great, although I could not tell most of them from each other. At least we knew the leader of the dwarfs, Richard Armitage - who was the most vocal of questioning Freeman's burglary skills and not having Freeman join them on their quest of reclaiming the dwarfs home when the dragon Smaug attacked their home and claimed the dwarfs treasure. I always wondered why Gandolf/McKellen as so determined to have Baggins/Freeman join the dwarfs company. having Baggins/Freeman giving Gandolf/McKellen courage is not enough of an answer for me. With Freeman and the dwarfs the same size, you normally do not realize they are supposed to be small people unless they are standing up next to McKellen. This lack of size ratio often throws me as I forget what creatures these magical characters are supposed to be, thus forgetting that you are in the world of Middle Earth that you are experiencing. I kept thinking they were all human. Even the ponies seemed the appropriate size for humans. When they were all up against the disgusting trolls, you would think the trolls were giants, but considering the size of dwarfs and hobbits, the trolls were probably human size, which makes the orcs as almost dwarf size as they were basically the same size as the dwarfs when they were battling. I just wish there was more singing as Middle Earth was full of song. I am not expecting a musical as this is not that kind of movie, but I was hoping for more singing. My favorite scenes of the movie were in the beginning of the movie where Bilbo was home in the Shire where the dwarfs gather. I never quite understood his sudden desire to join the dwarfs on their adventures.

I saw the movie in 3D. Maybe it was the glasses, but my eyes got tired and I had to rest my eyes by the time  when Bilbo met Gollum, Andy Serkis, who was also the second unit director - so I unfortunately missed out on most of their dialog, which was a shame for me as I am sure there was some nice characterization between Freeman and Serkis. The Hobbit is the first film shot and projected at 48 frames per second, which is twice as fast as the movie industry standard of 24 fps to give a smoother and more realistic motion with reduced picture strobing. This was supposed to be benificial when watching the film in 3D which helps to synchronize the images for each eye. I did notice that there was less strobing when I watched the film which made it easier on my eyes to watch, but there was still some strobing which was noticeable during the camera moves. The performance capture of Serkis was great and Gollum's computer generated eyes were very expressive. Cumberbatch is also supposed to be performance captured, but that will probably happen in the later movies as there was very little exposure of the dragon Smaug. Actors from the Lord of the Rings trilogy made cameos such as Elijah Wood, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom in The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey, whether or not those characters were in the original The Hobbit book or not. Former Doctor Who, Sylvester McCoy's character of Radagast appears - even though his character was omitted from the The Lord of the Rings films.

 Click below to watch another trailer of The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey.




Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 169 Minutes.

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

 Pancho's Movie Reviews

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Rated PG-13

Running time: 105 minutes



In Twentieth Century Fox's Rise of the Planet of the Apes, James Franco develops a new experimental retrovirus for a corporation to cure brain damage like Alzheimer's Disease - with a by-product of increasing intelligence. Testing on apes begets Ceasar, Andy Serkis, the leader of the Apes.

A combination of Charly and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, this is an intelligent story of the beginning of how the apes became the dominant species in the Planet of the Apes series. Not surprising since the novels Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys and Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle, of which Charly and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes are based on and suggested by, are classic literary books. What makes the movie work is Franco's love and devotion to his father John Lithgow - who is suffering from a degenerative brain disease. Although they do not specifically mention that Lithgow has Alzheimer's, just that he has a disease. This is one reason that Franco pushes for the development of the serum. Despite his obsession, Franco does soon realize that the serum is still experimental and that there could be side-effects.

The computer graphics of the apes were very good. The chimpanzee Ceasar was very cute when he was younger, especially when he was home, but very serious as an intelligent adult played by Andy Serkis. This is shown when the older Ceasar is first shown in the San Francisco Redwoods. The beastial nature of all the apes - most of which, if not all, are performance-capture artists - in the animal shelter compound can get to you if you are not used to that much raw emotion.

Tom Felton of Harry Potter fame was quite good as a sadistic animal controller assistant.

A classic line from the series is priceless.

Stick around when the end credits begin as there is a scene and graphics which leads to the development of the entire Planet of the Apes series. Wait for the graphics to be complete. The lost of a manned Mars space mission also hints at the series, as well as other homages to the series.

Rated PG-13 for violence. Running time: 105 minutes.

See the movie review of Rise of the Planet of the Apes by UFO Bob:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz5R6MJEPP0&feature=colike

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.