The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, hopefully most everyone is aware, is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings, all of which make up a series of stories by J.R.R. Tolkien, and put onto film by Peter Jackson.  This film was very large and very hyped up, and for good reasons.  Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy was a huge success worldwide, making it safe to say The Hobbit will be a huge international hit as well.

When the Lord of the Rings Trilogy first debuted I was one of the countless humans who enjoyed this series which took place in New Zealand.  This exotic location allowed for Peter Jackson to create his entire franchise on "virgin territory".  Prior to these films, New Zealand's film industry utilized more of its established land and cities.  Jackson took to the wild blue yonder of the un-established New Zealand landscape, allowing his films to have a very personal, original, look and feel.  Well, it was by no surprise that Jackson settled into his familiar surroundings to shoot The Hobbit...trilogy.  WOW!!!! I know what you're all thinking... can Peter Jackson make a single one-off film?  The answer...I have no clue.

Unlike The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is one book and similar to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit will premier in three installments.  This allows the film maker to focus on the story and all the elements in which it makes up; a plus side to shooting one book and making it into close to 9 total hours of film.  So, back to the point from earlier, as with the rest of the world I too was very excited for The Hobbit.

When I became fortunate enough to see this film, I quickly realized a fun little fact, this film was a lot less exciting then expected.  This film was still entertaining and the new technology used allowed this film to look even better then Jackson's first trilogy.  So, my hang-ups have nothing to do with Jackson's film making or story telling skills.  My hang-ups simply had to do with the fact that I feel the films would have been better in the original order in which Tolkien wrote them.

The reason behind this is that in The Hobbit there are many situations similar to those in The Lord of the Rings; same locations, same settings and some of the same people.  The Hobbit was written long before the other books, however, it seems almost as though it was written after the fact just because Hollywood wanted a prequel.  Worst of all is that The Hobbit seems a lot slower then it's proceeding film franchise, which is why I found this film to be somewhat on the boring side.  I'm sounding critical, but because I and the rest of the viewers have already seen the more fast-paced, exciting proceeding films the viewer is expecting that same level of intensity.  The fact is, is that the pace is much too different from The Lord of the Rings which is why it is disappointing.  I  would have enjoyed the film more so had it debuted in its intended book order.  I still enjoyed The Hobbit's specific story line, however, my point is valid in that in comparison to The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is boring and slow.

I understand that The Hobbit was intended to be slower in order to introduce the story-line within The Lord of the Rings, the ring itself, and the Shire, and everything. So, to see it out of its natural order automatically makes this film slower and repetitive.  I would love to watch this again, and plan on doing so.  I don't think I will necessarily find it any faster in its pace, but I am certainly hoping to find the story to be a lot better then my original perception, and fully expect it to.

When anticipating the film, I was thinking that the on-screen look of The Hobbit would be so much better then The Lord of the Rings; personally I'm not surprised that its quality is vastly greater.  When they made the original series (shot all three at once, same as with The Hobbit trilogy) the digital technology and CGI were nowhere near where it is today, Peter Jackson was and is well aware of this fact.  The grandiose landscapes and sets looked far "prettier" then the original sets and locations.  His wide sweeping frames of battles looked deeper and more intense then the original.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey didn't win me over in all categories. However, what it lacked was certainly made up for in the look of all the animation and camera shots.  From Popcorn or Snore to Peter Jackson, keep it up. 

Final Words: Medium Popcorn.
Even though my review may have seemed as though I hated this film, I really did not.  I believe I went into it expecting far too much, and when it wasn't delivered as intensely, I began to write it off.  If you like the original Lord of the Rings, you most likely will enjoy The Hobbit.  So, watch it, maybe don't show your little ones, a bit graphic for them.

Until next time, happy viewing!

Review Rating : Based on popcorn sizes; small, medium, large, extra-large
                           When films get a snore zzz... worth skipping  

This Is 40

This Is 40 is Judd Apatow's (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) most well-rounded film to date.  This film is a semi-sequel to Knocked Up where the characters are the same but the stories don't cross paths.  This is 40 follows the lives of Debbie (Leslie Mann, Apatow's real life wife) and Pete (Paul Rudd) and the simplicities behind turning 40 with all the life issues associated with that age.

This film addresses many social issues: sex, drugs, divorce, love, hate, change, money, etc.  These were the aspects which made this film, as I said above, so well-rounded.  Instead of Apatow focusing on one specific issue or quirk, (A 40 year old virgin for instance) he spends his film's time focusing on all the unglamorous issues normal/real people face day-to-day.  I loved this, so brilliant!

Debbie and Pete have a very nice existence...on paper.  They live in a very beautiful home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles.  They both drive nice, expensive cars and own their own businesses.  People perceive them to be a happy, warm, loving family.  However, the viewer sees behind the smoke and mirrors into their real life reality: frustration, annoyance, fear, sadness.  So, instead of having a typical film family where everyone is happy and things are going favorably for them, this film shows the dirt and the ugly things that go on in their lives.  This is a typical style for Apatow, but better achieved in this film.  This Is 40 masters a montage sequence where both Pete and Debbie endured the rigorous medical exams associated with aging: mammogram, prostate exam, colonoscopy, etc.  Although these sequences were a little "awkward" from a viewers stand point, these were the types of "real" which made this film so "smart".

I really felt that this film harnessed a more authentic feel without compromising the story-line.  Even though this film didn't take the path of glamour and glitz, the story process and over-all journey of the characters was the same as if it had.  Apatow delves deep into the mind of the "average" American and takes the time to think about these situations.  Apatow did not forget about including the emotional sequences either.

Many sequences within this film deal with turmoil between Debbie and Pete, as well as with their children (Leslie Mann's and Judd Apatow's real life Children, Maude and Iris Apatow).  Turmoil revolving around iPad's and WiFi, "Lost" and social media, smoking, and eating healthy, things which are so trivial in the grand scheme of things, but within this film were grounded in a more realistic Hollywood, these are the problems they face.  Not everyone can be a prince or warrior, some of us-most of us- live in this real world existence full of trivial problems.  What?  I said Vanilla Latte you twit!  So, from the "average Joe" to Judd Apatow, thank you for making "us" the protagonist worth following.

Not everything in this film was meant to be emotional, quite a bit of This Is 40 revolved around a comedic presence.  Sometimes the hilarity was intentional (spoken aloud) within the film, and sometimes it was situational (the moment), and of course sometimes both.  There was a scene where Debbie and Pete eat a bunch of pot brownies which led to some funny situational and intentional encounters.  There were two scenes where Debbie and then Pete had exchanges with a nasty school mate of their daughter, these were situational, no jokes were spoken, but the sequence was hilarious in all its inappropriateness.

So, all in all this film was very entertaining.  Now, having said that, if you are not a fan of Judd Apatow then you most likely will not enjoy this film, however, if you enjoy his work or don't mind it, I strongly feel that you will enjoy this film.  It's scary and funny as to how real This Is 40 was.

Final Words: Medium-Large Popcorn.
Although this film is entertaining and realistic, if you do not like Apatow's style you most likely will not like This Is 40, however, I feel this is a very smart film to watch because it in fact is very real.  Try it out, test the waters.

Until next time, happy viewing!

Review Rating : Based on popcorn sizes; small, medium, large, extra-large
                           When films get a snore zzz... worth skipping