The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
by Patrick O'Connor
MOST of my cinema excursions take me to the Broadway, a splendid independent venue in the centre of Nottingham.
But as a special Christmas treat, I decided to see The Hobbit at the recently opened IMAX auditorium at the city's Cineworld.
What's more, this 'prequel' from Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, was in 3D – and what a spectacular experience it turned out to be.
J R Tolkien, who died in 1973, aged 81, is rated as one of Britain's greatest writers, and it would have been interesting to see what he thought of his great fantasy adventure yarn of a hobbit and a bunch of dwarves doing battle with trolls, goblins and wargs, now accompanied by the very latest in digital sound techniques and the marvels of 3D which leave you ducking and weaving as all sorts of 'apparitions' fly out from the screen towards you.
The Hobbit follows the quest of Bilbo Baggins (superbly played by Martin Freeman, better known for his role in the hit BBC sitcom The Office) who joins up with the dwarves to try and reclaim their treasures now guarded by the dragon Smaug.
An Unexpected Journey is just the first of three instalments of an ambitious adaptation of the book and as a prequel it provides a host of clues and trailers for what follows in the Lord of the Rings trilogy which has already earned Jackson universal acclaim.
If I have a criticism, it is that some of the action scenes went on a little bit too long but that is more than made up for by the spectacular scenery (Jackson once again filmed it in his native New Zealand), the slapstick comedy routines involving the dwarves and the best bit of all, the scene where Baggins encounters for the first time the weird and wonderful Gollum – an amazing collaboration between the actor Andy Serkis and Jackson's CGI whizzkids.
The Hobbit is an enthralling journey, a magical mystery road movie – can't wait for the next one.