“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Adventure”, is the first of three movies that are based off of J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit”. Like “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “An Unexpected Adventure” was directed by Peter Jackson. So far this movie has a box office of over $886 million, making it the fourth highest grossing movie worldwide in 2012.

Martin Freeman, who is famous for his roles in “Love Actually”, BBC’s “The Office”, and the TV series “Sherlock” plays the main character, young Bilbo Baggins. Quiet but filled with spirit, he makes a very convincing hobbit, and is similar to the older Bilbo Baggins seen in the Lord of the Rings. Though he is slow to start, he quickly becomes a vital part of the team of dwarves, saving the group on several occasions due to his quick thinking and social skills. The audience also gets to see his courageous side, namely his riddle game with Gollum and his attempts to save Thorin (the leader of a group of dwarves) from a horde of Uruk-Hai. It is easy to see why Peter Jackson was so persistent on keeping Freeman as Bilbo.

Gandalf the Grey is still played by Ian McKellen, best known for his roles in the three previous “Lord of the Rings” and “X-Men”. He was just as good in “The Hobbit” as he was in “Lord of the Rings”. In the movie, Gandalf plays the similar role of helping a needy group on their adventure. He still disappears occasionally and never fails to pop up and save the day when all seems lost. Overall, he’s the same powerful, wise, and occasionally funny wizard we know and love.

There are other characters seen in this movie that seem to be almost identical to “Lord of the Rings”. These include Saruman the White (Christopher Lee), the Elf queen Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), and the Elven lord Elrond (Hugo Weaving). In their scenes, their appearances are very close to “Lord of The Rings”.

There are a few new faces in this movie that didn’t make an appearance in “Lord of The Rings”. The company of Dwarves that around which the journey is based are all new faces. The leader Thorin Oakenshield is played by Richard Armitage, who played a Nazi spy in “Captain America: The First Avenger”. Thorin is a strong but troubled leader, with a strong hatred of Smaug the Dragon who took over his home in the Lonely Mountain. He also is known for his encounter with Azog the Defiler, the Uruk Hai leader that killed his father. In the beginning he believes to have killed him, but when he learns that Azog is alive, his desire for revenge is reborn. Thorin has trouble accepting Bilbo into the company for most of the movie, until Bilbo proves his courage.

The rest of the group is best described as a rag-tag team of rambunctious Dwarves with a never-ending hunger and a lot of courage. Despite their naive behavior and childish games, they prove to be worthy warriors when the time comes. Throughout the journey they work together to make their way across the land, careful not to leave anyone to risk.

This movie begins with Bilbo Baggins, who is accompanied by Frodo, on his 111th birthday writing the story of his life 60 years prior. The story starts with Gandalf, convincing Bilbo to help a group of Dwarves reclaim their home in The Lonely Mountain from the dragon that stole the priceless amount of gold within it. Finally, Bilbo agrees to be their “Burglar” and the set of for the mountain. During their adventure, they encounter creatures such as trolls, goblins, Uruk-Hai, and Elves. The scenes paint a nice introduction to all of the characters and their journey. Even though it contains a good amount of action, the movie itself feels more like it was based on introducing “The Hobbit” to the audience and helping anyone who doesn’t know what’s going on to get on the same page as people who

“The Hobbit” was filmed in 48 frames per second in contrast to the usual 24. This makes the movie much clearer and smoother. The one downside that was reported was that the increased resolution made any animation or CGI effects had to be made extremely well. Otherwise the high frame rate would make it look unrealistic.

The similarities between this movie and the other “Lord of The Rings” really tie it together and help tell the story. This is shown in the characters that appear in both movies, as well as certain scenes that are now better explained because of “The Hobbit”. Anyone who really enjoyed the “Lord of The Rings” trilogy, books or movies, or have read “The Hobbit” will really like its connections. Because it will be a three part series, it is expected to contain more detail and similarity to the book than a single movie would, telling the story in a fuller, more complete way.

By: Cameron McLaren

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit:_An_Unexpected_Journey