There aren’t many films that can succeed in the making of a prequel, apart from maybe X-Men: First Class, and that was fairly mediocre at best. We all try not to think about the Alien and Predator prequels *cough* Alien vs. Predator, genius title and plot line of course, but what really makes you happy that you paid £10 to watch it is the weird looking ‘Pralien’ type spawn thing at the end, anyway, dreadful writing, directing and all over film making aside. The Hobbit is a pleasant, and dare I say it, revolutionary take on the prequel – could this be the dawn of a new age of prequels? Probably not. Especially if films (can they be called that?) such as Star Wars: The Phantom Menace are anything to go by. Nevertheless The Hobbit was more than worth the wait, and definitely worth the free poster artworks that were given out, and even written in Elvish.
While a few of the characters stayed the same; Gandalf, Gollum, Lord Elrond etc many of them are either entirely new or completely different than in The Lord of the Rings (LOTR). The most obvious of which being Bilbo Baggins, of Bag End. Though he is seen as a slightly grumpy old hobbit in LOTR, the young Bilbo is courageous, full of gumption and has a pleasant, sociable nature. Throughout the duration of the film you begin to realise that, in fact, you like this Bilbo and you develop a relationship with the character that wasn’t there in LOTR. Nor was it there with Frodo, really, as he had quite an annoying demeanour at times. This new bond between you and Bilbo brings you to the realisation that the next time you settle down for three hours to watch The Return of the King, you are going to be even more saddened than you were before, as you will feel upset for Bilbo too because you now know him as the loveable Martin Freeman. This is a sombre thought; perhaps you will now save that film for a rainy day on which you are willing to demolish your last toilet roll to vanquish your tears.
Tears aside, The Hobbit has a fresh comedy about it. This is down to the Dwarves; Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Dwalin, Balin… admit defeat, only Ian Mckellen could remember those names, let’s just call them the 13 Dwarves. As they struggle through their quest to claim back Erebor, their Dwarven kingdom that was taken by the dragon Smaug, they encounter many a challenge along the way. Most of these are throwbacks from LOTR, which makes the film already recognisable to the audience, in prequels some knowledge of the film gives you comfort as it makes it easier for you to relate to it. When you see Gandalf whisper to a moth your immediate thought is “The Eagles are coming!” and so you know that there is a chance of salvation. Just the same as when you see the Trolls appear on screen you immediately remember when Bilbo was reciting a tale about the Trolls trying to cook them, he said that they were discussing whether “it be turned on a stick, or whether they should sit on us one by one and squash us into jelly.” This then of course is exactly what happens to him in The Hobbit. This is a relief, as many prequels contain next to no continuity.
Along with the classic close-up shots of the characters seen in LOTR, that sometimes appear in cringe-worthy slow motion, the one thing that I’m sure everyone thought The Hobbit could not pull off from LOTR was the inspiring, memorable quotes. Nothing could be further from the truth. Gandalf, with his rumbling voice and elongated lifespan, reeled off many pearls of wisdom; “courage is not found in the ability to take lives, it is found in the ability to spare them.” thus passing on his infinite knowledge to an inexperienced, albeit earnest, hobbit.
Alas, we must wait on tenterhooks until The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is finally released at the end of next year. There is no doubt that we will be not only watching The Hobbit but re-watching it and then waiting impatiently outside of shops for the DVD release. It is undoubtedly the most anticipated film of the year, and they’ve done it valiantly, Stefan Pape of ‘heyuguys.co.uk’ was “very impressed” he says “it was a lot more well-rounded than I would have thought, considering they split it into three films.” and he isn’t even a mega-fan. It certainly wasn’t unexpected, but it was one hell of a journey.
Words and photographs by Lindsey Brown
