The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Happy Tolkien Week, everyone, and happy Hobbit Day!

Today, September 22, is National Hobbit Day. Yesterday, September 21, 2012, marked the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Hobbit. And December 14 of this year marks the beginning of an epic three-year journey through The Hobbit as a film trilogy:

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit: There and Back Again

To make a long story very short, The Hobbit is a film series that almost never was. After a myriad of issues including production rights- starting back as early as 1995 (Peter Jackson kept purely with The Lord of the Rings instead), other legal issues, and multiple delays, the two movies finally got the greenlight. Filming commenced from February 2011-July 2012, and, as it was announced on July 30th, 2012, what was once a two-part adaption had now been confirmed to become a trilogy.

I am so excited to be reporting on this movie- as we now stand less than three months away from its world premiere! I was originally planning to do some speculation on the plethora of pictures for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey that have been released over the past couple of weeks. But on September 19, The Hobbit's second movie trailer was released, and I just couldn't resist the chance for some serious spoiler speculation! I won't elaborate on everything (That would be called a book, in my case :P ); I'll just pick a couple little bits from the trailer that stood out to me the most.

So, on that note, I think it only fair to warn you, there are ***SPOILERS*** from here on out, for those who haven't read The Hobbit.

First of all, for any out there who haven't seen the new trailer-
http://video.uk.msn.com/watch/video/the-hobbit-an-unexpected-journey-msn-full-length-trailer/2tv1rprl
(The teaser trailer is down the suggested videos list a little, if you haven't seen that one either.)

Well, I really don't know where to go from there... ;-) There was so much awesome in those 2 minutes, 19 seconds, it's hard to find a place to begin.

One thing that caught my eye, however, was Thorin's map.

It looks like PJ and Co. have done some updating on the map. There are subtle changes to a few key elements. Here is a shot of the map from Fellowship of the Ring, for comparison-

The first change is the addition of Ravenhill. As the place has a small, but key part in the story, it makes sense that PJ would give viewers a better sense of where that is. The second change is the mountain itself. The whole thing is turned clockwise a little. Instead of the secret door facing straight on, it's turned a little more to the northwest. (East is the top of the map.) The final and most important change is in the wording below the mountain: "Here of old was Thror King under the Mountain"... Wait a minute... Thror? In the bottom picture, as well as the original map in the books, it says Thrain, not Thror. (Thrain is the son of Thror and father of Thorin Oakenshield.) It's interesting, because technically Thror *was* the King under the Mountain, not Thrain, even though Tolkien made the map and appeared to suggest the latter. Hopefully the movie will clear that intriguing change up.

Another part that really caught my eye was the (all too brief) glimpse of Radagast the Brown. What with the impressive shroud of secrecy surrounding Radagast's image until now, this was quite a revelation. I feel Peter Jackson's image of this eclectic, hermit-like, animal-loving wizard is very true to the books. Just look at him! However, being a Doctor Who fan, it was very odd seeing the seventh Doctor as...well, as Radagast, but let's not get into that right now. ;-)

 



One last specific thing I will mention is Gollum.

Is it wrong to say that he actually looks kind of...cute in that shot? :P

Gollum is definitely still that shriveled, grey, creepy creature we've all come to know in Lord of the Rings, but here he seems a little different. He's not *quite* as skinny, he doesn't have all the scars from his torture at the hands of Sauron's goons, and his eyes are bluer (and prettier O_O). Possibly the Ring still having a direct influence on him accounts for the slightly younger, healthier look? The amount of thought Peter Jackson and Co. put into these small details is incredible. I'm definitely looking forward to "Riddles in the Dark" most of all, in this first film.

Overall, my official thoughts on this new trailer boil down to me being extremely impressed with everything we've seen and heard thus far.

I am very impressed so far with Richard Armitage's portrayal of Thorin. Thorin is the leader of this company of dwarves, and heir of the King under the Mountain. Armitage is a talented actor, and he has this presence about him that embodies the quality of the "noble leader and warrior" very well. I think I'm going to be quite the Richard Armitage fan once The Hobbit is all said and done.
That being said, we've only made it to the second trailer for the first movie, and I'm already falling in love with Thorin, Fili, and Kili... I suppose that's the point, but...really? Not cool, Peter Jackson. :P

I absolutely cannot wait to see more of Martin Freeman's portrayal of Bilbo. I can already see why he was chosen for the part. Freeman embodies what it means to be a hobbit so well, and he has that wit and charm we all remember Bilbo having in the book. I also love that this new Bilbo seems to have a touch of Ian Holm's portrayal in the LOTR films, but is undoubtedly still very much Martin Freeman's own Bilbo.

If you haven't caught on that I'm extremely excited about these films, I'll say it once more. I love Tolkien's books- I always will, I loved Peter Jackson's film adaptations for LOTR, and I cannot wait to see what he does with The Hobbit. :)

~Katie~

"Home is now behind you. The world is ahead." - Gandalf, from the trailer.



All images copyright New Line Cinema, MGM, WingNut Films, Warner Bros., etc.