The journey begins

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (12a)
Running time 169 minutes
Rating:****
If cost ($250 million), cast and crew (hundreds) and the amount of facial hair were any guarantee of financial success in the film world, then The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey would be set fair to make quadzillions in dwarfish gold for its makers.
Sadly, as it is, none of these things can boost the number of bums on cinema seats, with the only true measure of film greatness being how gripping is the plot and how believable are the characters.
And with The Hobbit, there is a fair bit of going over old ground and off-set, there is the unedifying sound of labour troubles and legal wrangles adding an unwelcome ingredient to a plot already thickened by homeless dwarves, nasty goblins and pale-faced orcs with revenge on their mind.
So, even with the glittering cast of heavyweight actors – including many of the familiar faces (Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Ian Holm and Elijah Wood) – the film has some unwelcome baggage.
The tale, too complicated to recount in any detail, was first told in a slim volume in 1937 but will now take two or possibly three (depending on which website you read) enormous film epics to relate. Essentially, it’s all about Bilbo (Martin Freeman) being dragged on a journey with a bunch of bad-tempered dwarves to recapture their long-lost ancestral home.
For those who enjoy spotting a familiar face, the cast includes actor Adam Brown, from Hungerford, who is probably enjoying time back in home in Berkshire where surely all the goblins are friendly.
His character, along with the other members of the band, are chased from pillar to post, up mountains, through woods and into caves, making for the dwarfish home, guarded by a gold-loving dragon.
Despite all the noises off set, this is a vast, colourful, and visually arresting film that makes the most of Tolkein’s original tale and goes a long way to recapturing the magic and delight of the original trilogy.
The fact that it looks, sounds, and is a follow-up film may diminish its achievement in some eyes, but to ordinary cinema-goers, I think the wonder of what they see, plus the soundness of a simple story will keep their loyalty.
The work of the 200-plus visual and special effects people, plus the 80-plus make-up technicians may have added considerably to the final bill, but, when you see it, you’ll realise it was worth every penny.