Now that of the casting for Peter Jackson's latest trip to Middle Earth has been completed, I thought I'd take a look at some of the key elements of the book which simply cannot be overlooked.
After Jackson was fairly harshly criticized for not including the meeting of the mysterious Tom Bombadil, who was seen with such respect in the books that he was touted as a possible candidate to take care of the "One Ring" during the Council of Elrond. The only person I believe comparable with Bombadil within The Hobbit would be the shape-shifting Beorn, and yet he's already been confirmed as to be played by Mikael Persbrandt, a Swedish actor of little fame until now.
I do hope that the initial moment from the book in which poor Bilbo Baggins house is invaded by Gandalf's company of Dwarves manages to keep the same charm and humour. It's simply hilarious the way in which Bilbo gets himself so worked up by the Dwarves' apparent ungratefulness, and yet is held back by an unwavering politeness. As this is a book with many epic battles and frightful moments, to rush this first stage would be opening all your Christmas presents too early and being left to sulk all day.
I also would like to see some effort made to mark visually a difference between the landscape between these two films and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. When Guillermo del Toro was first given the task of making a film adaptation of the books, he spoke of making Middle Earth seem more magical and colourful. This is an idea that I hope Peter Jackson takes some inspiration from.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is due for release nationwide on December 14th 2012.
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