A Long-Awaited Journey

From the moment I had heard that The Hobbit was coming to the big screen I begun a long and patient wait... you could say I had been waiting for 12 years since I was introduced to the Hobbit novel at school. Reading the Hobbit with my English class at school was a moment of significance for me as it developed my growing interest in 'fantasy' as a genre. Many of my classmates were glad to have finished the book and be moving onto a new topic but at the age of 12 I was already an avid reader, every spare minute I could pilfer I would have my nose in a book. This included the short walk from classroom to classroom between each period. As soon as I had put down the Hobbit I couldn't wait to lay my hands on the Lord of the Rings. Hunting through piles of old and musty tomes at the local carboot sale my fingers stumbled upon 'my precious.' At the princely sum of 20 pence I could hardly have bartered the seller down by much.

I flew through the trilogy at an alarming pace and was often found by my mother in the small hours with my bedroom light left on, sound asleep gripping my copy of the book. My love of Tolkien's writing and Fantasy has not waned and far from being dragged to the cinema reluctantly, my girlfriend couldn't wait to see 'The Hobbit' on the big screen either. Rarely do I follow a film as closely, invest in magazines or treat myself to much generally but seeing that Empire was running a special on the film I bought a copy and eagerly read the 'behind the scenes' reports and interviews with the actors.
       
I cannot say that I was without reservations before seeing the film such as 'how do I feel about the Hobbit being another 3 film saga?' and 'How will Jackson deal with the Trolls having dialogue in the Hobbit where they had no grasp of speech in The Lord of the Rings?' the result of the film was very pleasing.  

Apart from the incredible cinematography and musical score, costume, sound and artwork I really felt that The Hobbit allowed for a greater focus on the ability of the actors and characterisation. I somehow felt 'closer' to this film perhaps due to the scale being less 'epic'. Martin Freeman's Bilbo was right on the nail for me and growing up in the English Westcountry I felt I could relate to his portrayal of the quintessential rural British everyman in local characters I can think of! The direction and acting of the Dwarves was balanced, no mean feat considering that numbering 13 makes characterisation a challenge with such competition and little dialogue for some. Ian McKellan's Gandalf was warmly familiar and there is definitely more 'practical magic' in this film meaning that the audience gets to see a bit more of what the Wizards can do beyond the hack and slash of melee and Gandalf The White's Ultrabrite Energy saving staff trick at Helms Deep.

For me though, my perhaps slightly unexpected favourite was Sylvester McCoy's performance of Radagast the Brown. One of my favourite literary archetypes is the Wizard; wise, mystical, powerful and often humorous guardians and advisers. I have always found what we don't know about the Wizard to be the most interesting element to them, they can always surprise us. This is what makes Radagast so much fun for me, although he doesn't get anywhere near the screen time as Gandalf there's depth of character and he doesn't just serve as comic relief.

One of my favourite depictions of the Wizard on screen has to be Nicol Williamson with his somewhat bizarre and beautiful vocal work in Excalibur (1981).

Certainly worthy of a mention is Barry Humpfries' Goblin king and of course the scene of the entire film has to be 'riddles in the dark' with the exceptional Andy Serkis playing a seemingly more carefree Gollum once again.

I'm not going to say that I'm not incredibly frustrated that I am going to have to wait two years to see the conclusion of the new trilogy but I am certainly used to it now! Like his cast and crew as well as avid fan following, I have faith in Peter Jackson and the very talented team he has put together to work on these films. If you haven't seen this... you should.

The Flaming Assasin, Finished

Until fairly recently I have found it very difficult to call a miniature "complete" and always manage to find a few missed spots or areas I would like to touch up a bit. I think this is down to the fact that I don't think I'm really very good at this painting malarkey! Somehow, I believe that a couple more days sitting on the shelf will somehow help to bring me the inspiration I need to make it just that little bit better. However, here is a rare finished article for my flaming, duel tomahawk wielding elf.