Ang Lee is a capricious talent, capable of misfiring (Hulk), but when on top form there is almost no film-maker in the world today to touch him. His masterful adaptation of one of those supposedly unfilmable (pfft) novels has overcome the obvious technical challenges with possibly the best use of 3D and most realistic CGI animation yet put on screen. Such things will, in time, be surpassed; but what won't fade with the years is the virtuosic rendition in light and form of an apparently simple fable, but one shrouded in delicate layers of humanity and spirituality.
The central adventure and survival tale, ravishingly shot and stunningly acted by newcomer Suraj Sharma, is bookended by initially innocuous scene-setting and reminiscing sequences that gently, imperceptibly, shift the meaning from the story being told, to the meaning of the telling of the story. A sublime meditation on faith and the power of belief... with a stonking great tiger.
Rating: 5/5
Monday 31 December 2012
Sunday 30 December 2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
Baggy, never-ending goings on, going on in Bag End, give way finally to a surprisingly spritely adventure for such a behemoth of a movie. The tone (teetering between light kiddlesome adventure and LOTR darkness) takes a while to find its feet; the excellent cast however, hit the ground running. It's pleasing to see just how much care Jackson and team have put into giving the dwarves a rounded and meaty set of personalities, there's nary a hint of Time Bandits silliness that could have derailed a less respectful adaptation (something that Gimli's overtly comedic turn in Return Of The King pointed worryingly to).
The Hobbit doesn't yet engage with the same depth of emotion that made the Fellowship such an astounding achievement from the off. With the shoehorning in of much peripheral material from the Tolkien archives there may be issues with getting the right balance of looming threat and moral imperative that LOTR had running through its heart; yet these are but early days, and it will undoubtedly take the telling of the entire saga to conclude if this trilogy can measure up to the extraordinary achievements of its predecessor.
I was deeply sceptical of the move to three lengthy films being wrought from such a slim source, and while I remain to be wholly convinced, this first episode has much to enjoy; and once the languorous opening act was dispensed with, felt far tighter and more event-filled than the running time would suggest.
A gentle tale, lovingly told, and with the grimmer and bad-assier stuff still to come, there is hope of greatness yet.
Rating: 4/5
The Hobbit doesn't yet engage with the same depth of emotion that made the Fellowship such an astounding achievement from the off. With the shoehorning in of much peripheral material from the Tolkien archives there may be issues with getting the right balance of looming threat and moral imperative that LOTR had running through its heart; yet these are but early days, and it will undoubtedly take the telling of the entire saga to conclude if this trilogy can measure up to the extraordinary achievements of its predecessor.
I was deeply sceptical of the move to three lengthy films being wrought from such a slim source, and while I remain to be wholly convinced, this first episode has much to enjoy; and once the languorous opening act was dispensed with, felt far tighter and more event-filled than the running time would suggest.
A gentle tale, lovingly told, and with the grimmer and bad-assier stuff still to come, there is hope of greatness yet.
Rating: 4/5
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