The titles and dates for the new Hobbit movies (yes, plural... movies) has been announced today. I've know for a while that Peter Jackson had planned to make the book into two movies though I am not really sure why, the Guardian it seems, thinks the same. The Hobbit book isn't a long read, I would say it can be covered by an adult reader steadily in an afternoon and reading it to a child as an ideal bedtime story you could comfortably do it in a week.
The Hobbit 'An Unexpected Journey' is slated for December 2012 whilst the second movie is called 'There And Back Again' and is set to follow the twelve months later. Both films are being shot back to back right now.
My concern for the new movies as with the Lord of the Rings trilogy is not the amount of time they run for but the content they contain. I do love the Rings trilogy but I feel in my heart that Peter Jackson omitted content he should really have put in. There's no Tom Bombadil or Barrow Downs for a start and crucially one of the last chapters of the books 'The Scouring of the Shire' is left out. Instead we get a lot of boring stuff about the Elves that don't really add anything to the films. The whole point of the 'Scouring of the Shire' chapter is that the four hobbits finally come of age and after all their adventures have to deal with a very big problem (Saruman) at the end without any help at all from the fellowship. It very much illustrates at the book closure what compassion, bravery and capabilities hobbits are capable of and is a fitting end to their tale.
There's shortcuts and liberties taken within the three films, things that don't happen added to it and vice versa and whilst I can see why Jackson has done it on occasions on others it just doesn't sit well with me. I guess Jackson has to make movies that will appeal to the masses and to his credit he's done a marvellous job of making the whole Tolkien world of Middle Earth come to life and be seen by the world.
The reality is, I hold the Hobbit as a very special book indeed. I read it first aged about fourteen when I wasn't doing too well at school with little interest in anything academic at all. I think someone recommended it or I stumbled on it in the school library, I can't really recall but what I can remember is the book introduced me to a love or reading and creative writing ever since. I devoured the book pretty quick and moved onto the Lord of the Rings which I took on holiday to Scarborough and read it in rustic surroundings on a farm holiday home a few miles away in the hills overlooking the coast. The surrounding valley's, woods and distant sea views of the area inspired me to absorb the trilogy and imagine the amazing adventures within its many pages.
So, I guess I am hoping for many things from the hobbit movies mainly because it's a booked etched in my mind from childhood to this present day, it is also a book I hold dear.
On the positive side Peter Jackson has assembled a great cast, Martin Freeman will make a great Bilbo Baggins and Richard Armitage I'm sure, will make a dour yet purposeful Thorin Oakenshield. Andy Serkis returns as Gollum, the enigmatic Hugo Weaving is back as Elrond and of course it would never ever be complete without the amazing Ian McKellen as Gandalf. Some other actors are reprising roles from the trilogy, it's recently been confirmed Orlando Bloom is back as the elf lord Thranduil's son 'Legolas'. It's these reprisal roles that do concern me and I'm sure Jackson will add in many backstory appendices from the Rings trilogy (Dwarven and Orc wars etc) that apply to the Hobbit book, I just hope he doesn't go too far with things in this respect but something inside tells me they will be epic movies and to be fair Peter Jackson does seem very passionate about what he does. If I ever wanted to be in a movie with my real life hobbit stature it would have been as an extra in this one, alas the modelling thing last year never really came to fruition and I heard nothing from the agency, all I can hope now is that my favourite book becomes reality on the big screen and brings my childhood wonderment to life.
The Hobbit 'An Unexpected Journey' is slated for December 2012 whilst the second movie is called 'There And Back Again' and is set to follow the twelve months later. Both films are being shot back to back right now.
My concern for the new movies as with the Lord of the Rings trilogy is not the amount of time they run for but the content they contain. I do love the Rings trilogy but I feel in my heart that Peter Jackson omitted content he should really have put in. There's no Tom Bombadil or Barrow Downs for a start and crucially one of the last chapters of the books 'The Scouring of the Shire' is left out. Instead we get a lot of boring stuff about the Elves that don't really add anything to the films. The whole point of the 'Scouring of the Shire' chapter is that the four hobbits finally come of age and after all their adventures have to deal with a very big problem (Saruman) at the end without any help at all from the fellowship. It very much illustrates at the book closure what compassion, bravery and capabilities hobbits are capable of and is a fitting end to their tale.
There's shortcuts and liberties taken within the three films, things that don't happen added to it and vice versa and whilst I can see why Jackson has done it on occasions on others it just doesn't sit well with me. I guess Jackson has to make movies that will appeal to the masses and to his credit he's done a marvellous job of making the whole Tolkien world of Middle Earth come to life and be seen by the world.
The reality is, I hold the Hobbit as a very special book indeed. I read it first aged about fourteen when I wasn't doing too well at school with little interest in anything academic at all. I think someone recommended it or I stumbled on it in the school library, I can't really recall but what I can remember is the book introduced me to a love or reading and creative writing ever since. I devoured the book pretty quick and moved onto the Lord of the Rings which I took on holiday to Scarborough and read it in rustic surroundings on a farm holiday home a few miles away in the hills overlooking the coast. The surrounding valley's, woods and distant sea views of the area inspired me to absorb the trilogy and imagine the amazing adventures within its many pages.
So, I guess I am hoping for many things from the hobbit movies mainly because it's a booked etched in my mind from childhood to this present day, it is also a book I hold dear.
On the positive side Peter Jackson has assembled a great cast, Martin Freeman will make a great Bilbo Baggins and Richard Armitage I'm sure, will make a dour yet purposeful Thorin Oakenshield. Andy Serkis returns as Gollum, the enigmatic Hugo Weaving is back as Elrond and of course it would never ever be complete without the amazing Ian McKellen as Gandalf. Some other actors are reprising roles from the trilogy, it's recently been confirmed Orlando Bloom is back as the elf lord Thranduil's son 'Legolas'. It's these reprisal roles that do concern me and I'm sure Jackson will add in many backstory appendices from the Rings trilogy (Dwarven and Orc wars etc) that apply to the Hobbit book, I just hope he doesn't go too far with things in this respect but something inside tells me they will be epic movies and to be fair Peter Jackson does seem very passionate about what he does. If I ever wanted to be in a movie with my real life hobbit stature it would have been as an extra in this one, alas the modelling thing last year never really came to fruition and I heard nothing from the agency, all I can hope now is that my favourite book becomes reality on the big screen and brings my childhood wonderment to life.
Martin Freeman (above) surely is the perfect casting for Bilbo Baggins
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