To say that Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy was huge is an understatement. Lord of the Rings took over the world, making moviegoers into Gollums caressing their movie stubs. I was eleven when The Fellowship of the Rings came out, and can to this day remember regaling the details of the movie to my friends on the playground. It took over for several years, until it ended with an Oscar winning Return of the King.
This December, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey offers LOTR lovers the story of Bilbo's adventures before Frodo ever touched the Ring of Power. Martin Freeman, known by anglophiles as Dr. Watson in BBC's brilliant Sherlock re-imagining fills the rather large shoes of Bilbo. I never latched onto The Hobbit book like I did to LOTR, but I will take whatever I can get. My only concern comes from the scale and scope of the story. Whereas Lord of the Rings raised the stakes, endangering all of its characters and putting all of Middle Earth in mortal peril, the Hobbit is a lighter adventure with lesser stakes. On Jackson's video diaries, he said as much, though he did not act as though it would lessen the movies. It will be wonderful to be back in Middle Earth, and to reunite with Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf, and of course Gollum, as well as new characters played by actors like Richard Armitage of North and South and Aiden Turner of the BBC's Being Human fame. Watch either on Instant Netflix and get excited about the fresh blood.
Peter Jackson created a masterful trilogy from Tolkien's works. I have faith that he can meet the high standard he set and create another journey in The Hobbit, which is split into two movies. After controversy and long delays, The Hobbit is coming soon, and I can think of no better leader than Jackson to bring it with a bang worthy of Middle Earth. He may be only a man, but I'd say he'd got honorary hobbit feet.
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