The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

We unexpectedly got to see The Hobbit on Thursday! It was the first time we’d seen a Lord of the Rings film on the big screen, and it was fantastic! The sweeping scenery is so beautiful, and the score just rousing. Costumes are amazing…the elegance of the Elves, the ruggedness of the Dwarves, the coziness of the Hobbits. The movie’s plot is quite different from the book’s, but all in all, considering how this prequel trilogy draws on the Appendices and other writings of Tolkien and is meant to explain the backstory to The Lord of the Rings, I appreciate the changes. The major incidents in the book are present in the movie and there are many word-for-word lines as well, which is nice. 🙂

Though I do love the epic feel and battles of The Two Towers and The Return of the King, The Fellowship of the Ring is my favorite of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy because of the closeness of the group. And An Unexpected Journey has the same feel. It’s just like going on the journey with the Fellowship; even more so because of the way the group has to learn to bond and work together.

At the start of the movie, we are introduced to a bumbling group of Dwarves with a mission to reclaim an old kingdom and treasure that belongs specifically to them and to a Hobbit named Bilbo who isn’t sure why he’s there or even if he wants to be. By the end of the movie, the group has come a long way from that. Bilbo finds sympathy for the Dwarves and the courage to fight. Proud Dwarf leader Thorin comes to respect other races. And a new evil shows itself in the forest as the White Council discusses how to deal with it.

“I cannot guarantee his safety,” says Thorin of Bilbo. “Nor will I be responsible for his fate.” On this journey, the Ring comes to Bilbo, and later passes to Frodo, setting off a chain of events that puts the future of Middle Earth in the balance. Bilbo’s fate changes the fate of Middle Earth. But it is clear that it is more than “fate.” In one of my favorite quotes from The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf tells Frodo,

“There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.”

Through it all, the Creator of Middle Earth watches and orchestrates things to save His Faithful.

Pictures (from thehobbitblog.com and The Hobbit Photo Gallery) and videos: