Peter Jackson’s adaptations of Tolkien’s works are equations
in which addition and subtraction are crucial. In The Lord of the Rings,
Jackson solved the equation
well. Subtracting extraneous elements, such as Tom Bombadil, the Barrow Downs
and the Scouring of the Shire from Tolkien’s narrative made for a better movie.
Additions were minutely scrutinised and, for example in the case of a stronger
‘warrior Arwen,’ largely abandoned.
In The Hobbit, Jackson
has made a number of additions, both to the story and to the viewing
experience, which are largely unsuccessful. The Hobbit is of course a
far lighter text than The Lord of the Rings, really a children’s story
largely free of the deeper mythology and symbolism present in the LOTR,
and, as such, open to additions in order to improve character and story.
Unfortunately, Jackson ’s additions
seem largely to be present in order to create enough material for three movies
rather than any other consideration.
Least successful is Radagast and his rabbit powered sleigh.
The character, barely mentioned in The Hobbit, is given a larger billing
in the movie as part of the sub-plot concerning Sauron’s rise as the
Necromancer of Dol Guldur. In some respects this is a good addition; it
presents the story in the wider context of a prelude to the LOTR, and
the scenes in Dol Guldur itself, and the meeting of the White Council, are
satisfying additions. Radagast however, is drawn as a largely comic character
in a story already full of comic dwarf, goblin and troll characters.
A second large addition is that of the orc Azog. As the
conventional hero of the story, Thorin Oakenshield requires an antagonist not
present in The Hobbit, and voila, another character, mostly reproducing
the role already filled by the Great Goblin, is introduced.
The addition of a major character is a symptom of Jackson ’s
largest change to the equation, that of form. The Hobbit could have been
adapted as a single movie with some of the less successful elements, for
instance Beorn, removed. It could have been adapted quite faithfully over two
movies, perhaps with a little playing up of the Dol Guldur/Necromancer subplot
to give it more coherence and relevance as a prequel. To make the adaptation
over three movies, introducing multiple characters and story arcs not present
in the original text is an addition that would not have been tolerated in a LOTR
adaptation, and is only permitted now that Jackson
has attained golden child status amongst Tolkien fans.
My last gripe about form is the choice to shoot in HFR 3D.
From a purely personal and aesthetic standpoint 3D has been completely
pointless in nearly every movie (Avatar is the only exception) I’ve seen. HFR was continually distracting for the first hour of the film, after which either I was used to it or the proportion of action sequences was higher (it is
most noticeable in non-action sequences). We are a media savvy/saturated
culture, and that that saturation has occurred in 24fps. Until the visual
language of our culture is migrated to 48fps it will always seem jarring for
the first hour of any film. But, since our culture is unlikely to swap to HFR en
masse any time soon, I will have to call the horse bolted on this one. Beta
video might be better quality but VHS won. HFR might be better, but it’s too
late.
Final word: Decent movie, a few cringeworthy scenes, a few
spectacular scenes. See it in good old 2D, 24fps. 67%