The Hobbit-5 Armies

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The journey has come to an end. Peter Jackson’s vision of re-telling J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic tales of Middle Earth has now been completely realized with the release of the final edition of the Hobbit trilogy, which is really the third of a six part series including the three Lord of the Rings films. As every Tolkien fan knows, the Hobbit was a comparatively short story compared to the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy of books. But Jackson, using sources from the appendix following The Return of the King, elements from the trilogy, and yes, some of his own made up stuff, chose to greatly expand the Hobbit story and make it into another three films, the last of which was released on December 17. The Esquire IMAX Theater in Sacramento previewed it in full IMAX 3D on Tuesday, and even presented an opportunity to screen all three Hobbit movies in succession on Monday! (I am holding out for the true marathon of all six films. If I could survive that, I will have made a journey as epic as Bilbo and Frodo…)

Released two years ago, in 2012, the first episode of the Hobbit Trilogy, An Unexpected Journey, adhered fairly close to the story and feel of the book, introducing Bilbo Baggins, played by Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, and the 13 dwarves of Thorin Oakenshield’s company as they invade Bilbo’s life and begin their epic quest for their rightful home and treasure. On the way Bilbo encounters Gollum and finds the One Ring that guides everything in the tales.

The second of the trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug, continues the company’s long journey as they are chased by orcs, meet Beorn the man/bear, and enter the forest of Mirkwood, where they encounter giant hungry spiders and wood elves. We also meet Tauriel, the beautiful elven warrior, who brings to the story something Tolkien never had in the original Hobbit, a woman, and romance. (OK, there were women in Lake Town, but they didn’t contribute much to his story.) We also meet Legolas, the coolest elf ever, played by Orlando Bloom, who was a key character in the Lord of the Rings, and becomes one of the key characters in the Hobbit films as well. And of course we meet the dragon Smaug, the thinking man’s dragon, voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch.

The third film picks up where they left off—Smaug is sick of Bilbo’s tricky escapes, but heard him say he was a “barrel rider” among other things, and Smaug gathers that he has been through nearby Lake Town at the foot of the Lonely Mountain. So since he cannot seem to catch the disappearing hobbit, he will exact some revenge on the town for helping him and the dwarves. And so begins the film, with the giant flying terror raining torrents of fire on Middle Earth’s version of Venice, as the people do their best to escape in rowboats and rafts.

As the film opens, we encounter two characters. Bard (Luke Evans) is the imprisoned born leader who is an expert archer and the key to killing Smaug. He is a kind of precursor to Aragorn of Lord of the Rings, a man in the shadows who becomes a great leader. And the one character I had way too much of—Alfrid, the comic lackey of the town’s ruler, who escapes the fires with the people, and spends the rest of the film showing how much of a coward he can be. Played by Ryan Gage, he looks and sounds like Russell Brand with a unibrow. A little of him went a very long way.

But the opening sequence, especially in full IMAX 3-D, is a stunning introduction to the film, and definitely sets the tone of intense action and fierce battles. While the first two films were all about the journey getting to the Lonely Mountain, meeting all the characters, friend and foe, and seeing the different lands they travel through, this film is set mostly at Lake Town and the Lonely Mountain, and the five armies that descend upon it to battle for the treasure and power of holding the ground. So, for me, that made this film less satisfying than the others, since nothing really new happens. We see epic battles, but we’ve seen those in the Lord of the Rings films. We see a lot of the great characters, but they’re the same ones we’ve been seeing through the other films.

One scene that did stand out was when Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) and Elrond (Hugo Weaving), two Elven ring bearers, along with Saruman (Christopher Lee) the white wizard, (before he turned bad) fought off the nine Nazgul to save Gandalf. The scene demonstrated the force of the rings other than the One Ring in use of their masters. (Middle Earth lore is that Sauron had the One Ruling Ring, which he lost—Bilbo has that one—Elven lords had three, Dwarf Lords seven, and nine for men, who became the Nazgul and serve Sauron. Each ring bearer has some power, but all are subservient to the One Ring, if the bearer knows how to use it.)

Watch also for the battle between Thorin (Richard Armitage) and the leader of the Orcs toward the end of the film. Without giving too much away, the fight between the small but mighty dwarf king and the giant orc uses some very creative imagery and turns of fate. Also, of course, watching Legolas in action is always fun, though the extended scene of his one-on-one orc fight does push believability a bit much. I guess you have to accept that his mind and body are so far ahead of normal reaction time, he is able to do amazing stunts without much effort.

So despite a few drawbacks, the film is a fitting and enjoyable conclusion to the first three, and does set up the following three films nicely. Peter Jackson has made a valiant and ultimately extremely satisfying rendition of the epic Tolkien novels. It is worth comparing the films to George Lucas’ Star Wars saga. Both are six part film series, which started with the 4th, 5th, and 6th episodes, and went back to produce episodes 1, 2, and 3. Both bring fantastic characters in otherworldly settings, and have good fighting evil, with characters who possess magical powers and abilities. And both feature one-on-one battles contrasted with vast (computer assisted) armies facing each other on huge battlefields, with the occasional giant behemoth (or spaceship) joining in. Lucas had the freedom to create and change his story as he went, sometimes even to its detriment, but it was always his tale to tell. (At least until now.) And his story will go on to the next trilogy and beyond, and has spurred numerous off-shoots and companion stories, like the Clone Wars series. Jackson, however, had an established story to tell, and with some creative license, basically stuck to the printed words of its long gone creator. His creativity came in the realization of the characters and settings. Though I am a big fan of both, I think the Tolkien film saga ultimately comes out on top as a near perfect rendition of an epic tale. (Tolkien himself, like Lucas, did go back to his original Hobbit story to make some changes to fit in with the Lord of the Rings.)

The film is a must see for all who have seen the other two Hobbit movies, but it may not make much sense if you hadn’t. But it would still be fun, even then! It is also pretty intense for younger audiences, with plenty of violent fighting, so it is good for 12 years and up—or younger if they are prepared for this kind of movie. The IMAX 3-D is also spectacular, with great detail and full immersion in the imagery, and impressive without overwhelming sound.

The Hobbit: The Battle of 5 Armies is now playing at the Esquire IMAX theater in downtown Sacramento. Free or reduced price parking is available at the 10th and L Street lot. See https://www.imax.com/oo/esquire-imax/ for more information.

Ken Kiunke  12/19/2014  Originally published in the Gold Country Times. Reprintable with attribution to the Gold Country Times and Ken Kiunke 

Ahh, Middle Earth. A place I discovered in 1972, while I was in fifth grade. One day during some free time in class, I grabbed from the shelves “The Hobbit” by J.R.R. Tolkien, a name I had never heard of, and wasn’t even sure how to pronounce (Tol-kin?) As I began to read, I was hooked, as I explored the Shire, Rivendell, and all the wondrous places, and met Bilbo, Gandalf, and a host of dwarves. But these were not Disney’s dwarves and wizards, this was something beyond mere fairy tales. I finished the book, and noted inside that I could order the other books by Tolkien in a whole set—my own copy of the Hobbit, the three Lord of the Rings books, and a Tolkien Reader. It seemed to take forever, but they finally arrived, and I devoured them. I shared them with friends, who got into it too. This was right on the cusp of Middle Earth becoming a bigger cultural phenomenon—by the time I reached junior high, my town had a Middle Earth bookstore, my school offered a class on fantasy and science fiction focused on Tolkien, and Robert Plant was working Mordor and Gollum into Led Zeppelin songs. But a great film version was missing, and must have seemed beyond the reach of any filmmakers or producers to take on such a task. An animated version was made in 1978, but it could not do the stories justice. Then in 2001, Peter Jackson released the first of his three part Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the films were practically perfect realizations of the novels. The casting was great, especially the key roles of Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Frodo (Elijah Woods) and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen.) The scenery from New Zealand proved to be the perfect Middle Earth setting, and Jackson and his team stuck right to the story Tolkien wrote, with a few effective enhancements. Of course, with that success, both artistically and commercially, it was natural to follow up with the story that started it all, The Hobbit.

Of course, the immediate problem the filmmakers encountered was that The Hobbit is a much simpler tale than the epic Lord of the Rings, and can stand alone as a story. In fact, when Tolkien wrote his original tale, published in 1937, he had no plans to build the rest of the story. And a great film could have been made holding strictly to the book—or even two films, as Jackson had originally planned. And if The Hobbit film had been created before Lord of the Rings, it would have made perfect sense to do so. However, since this project turned out to become a “prequel” to the Lord of the Rings, rather than just a film version of The Hobbit, it has grown in scale and story, to become an equal artistic partner to the earlier trilogy. And that is not without precedent from Tolkien himself, who adapted his own original story to fit in better with the trilogy follow-up as he wrote it.

The first part of the film Hobbit Trilogy, An Unexpected Journey, adhered fairly close to the story and feel of the book, with some additions and creative enhancements (well documented in many websites.) It introduced the “younger Bilbo” played by Martin Freeman (as opposed to the older Ian Holm who plays his small part in the Lord of the Rings.) Ian McKellen returned as Gandalf, and we meet the 13 dwarves of Thorin’s company as they invade Bilbo’s life and begin their epic quest for their rightful home and treasure. We also re-meet Gollum, whom we saw plenty of before, but we see his origins in Bilbo’s and Frodo’s connection to him, and the introduction of the One Ring that guides everything in the tales.

Now we get the second of the prequel trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug, which continues Bilbo and the Dwarves’ story of the quest to take back their kingdom from the giant fire breathing, but quite intelligent and articulate, dragon who inhabits the dwarf halls inside the Lonely Mountain. Their long journey puts them in constant danger from the monstrous orcs who are chasing them across the land, and follows them into the forest of Mirkwood, where they encounter giant hungry spiders, and the beautiful but suspicious wood elves, who are not overly fond of dwarves, but do like them better than orcs or goblins.

In the book, Gandalf leaves the company at various times for pressing business elsewhere, which is never explained, but the reader eventually comes to understand it is all part of the larger story. But since this is now part of that story, we get to follow him too, as he climbs treacherous mountains and battles legions of orcs. The filmmakers have added other things to the story that stray from the book, but are mostly based on other aspects of the Tolkien’s tale. Legolas the elf, for example, played by Orlando Bloom in the Lord of the Rings, appears with the Wood Elves in Mirkwood. He is never mentioned in The Hobbit book, but it makes sense that he is there, since he is the son of the Wood Elf king. Plus he is an awesome character – beautiful but amazingly deadly with a bow, so it is always great to see him.

A more controversial diversion is the introduction of the elf Tauriel, a beautiful warrior played by Evangeline Lilly, who, with her pointy elven ears looks like she could be Arwin’s (Liv Tyler in Lord of the Rings) sister. She proves to be every bit as skilled at fighting as Legolas, and puts a sparkle in his eye, but her lower status means she cannot be his elven bride. So this subplot leads to another creative license taken by Jackson, in the form of Kili, (Aiden Turner) one of the 13 dwarves in Thorin’s party, who is also one of the tallest, and easily the best looking. He not only catches Tauriel’s eye, but gets heroically injured, and together with two other dwarves, does not accompany Thorin and company up to the Lonely Mountain. Some may object to the change, but if you are making a single book into a trilogy, you need to pad it with some good subplots, and adding a beautiful elf to the mix is never a bad thing…

The other star of the film is the dragon Smaug, beautifully voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch. He not only slithers his enormous body through his lair of stolen treasure (think Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland a million times over) but he enjoys wordplay and challenges with Bilbo. He also enjoys breathing fire at his enemies and flying his enormous but graceful body out of the mountain when he gets especially cross. And he looks real enough for you to actually accept that this giant reptile could actually fly like an eagle with little effort.

The film is long—over 2 ½ hours—so you have to be a fan of Tolkien, or at least fantasy adventure to enjoy it. It is also pretty intense for younger audiences, with plenty of violent fighting, so it is good for 12 years and up—or younger if they are prepared for this kind of movie. But the great scenes keep coming, and the story makes you anticipate the final piece to come next year. The IMAX 3-D is also spectacular, with great detail and full immersion in the imagery. I imagine in a couple of years, there may be some die-hard fans who will plan viewing parties around all six films. 18 hours or more! That would be an epic journey in itself.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is now playing at the Esquire IMAX theater in downtown Sacramento. Free or reduced price parking is available at the 10th and L Street lot. (Warning – do not park at the Esquire Lot on 13th – even with the validation you will pay as much as another ticket to the movie.) See https://www.imax.com/oo/esquire-imax/ for more information.

Ken Kiunke  12/18/2013 Originally published in the Gold Country Times. Reprintable with attribution to the Gold Country Times and Ken Kiunke

The Sacramento Philharmonic and Sacramento Opera have joined forces into one organization, officially titled the Sacramento Region Performing Arts Alliance, but commonly using the nickname “Two in Tune!” This new alliance kicked off Saturday with “Here To Stay—The Gershwin Experience” at the Sacramento Community Theater.

General Director Rob Tannenbaum introduced the evening stating that this was an historic alliance to make music and the arts even stronger in the region, and believed that it may inspire others to follow this direction. You could look at it as an indication that the community could not support a separate opera and philharmonic, however, it is also a natural joining of forces to bring classical music in all its forms to the greater Sacramento community. “Here To Stay” was a one day, two show opening presentation. The show was heavy on the philharmonic and light on the opera, focusing mostly on the popular and symphonic music of the Gershwin brothers.

Grammy winning singer Sylvia McNair and singer-pianist David Snyder have performed the show all over the country, and join Sacramento Philharmonic Music Director Michael Morgan as they bring this multi-media presentation of the work of George and Ira Gershwin to town. Singer and tap dancer Daniel Gardner and 17-year-old pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner round out the headlining cast. The show is presented much like a well-crafted PBS documentary, with photos and film clips of the Gershwin brothers, and plenty of anecdotes and background information provided by Snyder, who served as host and created the orchestrations for the traveling show.

After a couple of opening numbers, Snyder, telling of George Gershwin’s history, mentioned one of the first songs he published, Rialto Ripples, and introduced Sanchez-Werner to perform it. The young man quickly blew away the audience with his piano skill and feeling for the music. Though still too young to vote, Llewellyn has already studied college level at Julliard (at 14!) and performed at the White House, the Kennedy Center, and even in Iraq and Rwanda. Rialto Ripples was written by Gershwin at 17, so it was nice to see someone at the same age and the same level of talent perform it. And if anyone was unconvinced, the first half of the show concluded with him performing Rhapsody in Blue with the orchestra.

From the iconic opening trill of the clarinet, to the moving conclusion, Rhapsody in Blue is the most American of music there is. Snyder introduced it with the story of George being reminded by Ira that he had agreed to write a piece for a concert honoring Lincoln’s birthday called “An Experiment in Modern Music”. He realized he had only six weeks to complete it, but was quickly inspired by the rhythms of the train on a trip to Boston. By combining elements of classical music with jazz, he came up with a quintessential American feeling, bringing banjo and accordion into an orchestra, adding musical humor, and communicating the feeling of hope and unlimited possibilities inherent in the American dream. Llewellen Sanchez-Werner captured all of this as he both attacked and massaged the keyboard with great feeling and passion. The audience responded with a mid-show standing ovation for the young prodigy as the show broke for intermission. Music fans can look to see his name over and over again as he matures and brings his talent to more and more of the world.

Sylvia McNair has a lovely soprano voice and knows the material well. She warmed the audience with tunes like The Man I Love and But Not For Me, interpreting Ira’s clever lyrics with George’s beautiful melodies. Her performance of Summertime, the opening song from the Gershwin’s landmark American opera “Porgy and Bess”, was also very nice, but unfortunately with a song like that you always crave for more than just nice. After Billie Holliday, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerlad, and even countless American Idol contestants have interpreted it, you look for something a little more edgy and passionate. McNair is spot on and pretty, but you get none of the feeling and meaning of the song—a poor fisherman’s wife singing a lullaby of hope to her baby. (By the way, if you haven’t heard Billy Stewart’s 1966 scat version of Summertime, do yourself a favor and look it up.)

Danny Gardner, the genial tap dancer and singer, also did a nice job singing and dancing the Fred Astaire type parts, though he’s not quite as light on his feet or has the same spark as Astaire. But he brought a lot of fun and style to the show in songs like Slap That Bass and I Got Rhythm, which he sang with Snyder and McNair. And Conductor Michael Morgan is a charismatic and entertaining leader of the wonderful orchestra, and interacted with the other performers throughout. Though it was previously announced that Morgan would be in white tie and tails for this concert, he ended up with a more casual look in black shirt and slacks, leaving the tuxedos to the players.

With “Here To Stay—The Gershwin Experience”, the Sacramento Region Performing Arts Alliance is off to a good start, to be followed in November with the “International Stars of Opera Recital”, and in January the Philharmonic will present “Traditionally Modern” a contemporary take on some classic pieces. See www.2intune.org for more information.

Ken Kiunke 10/20/13 Originally published in The Gold Country Times. Reprintable with attribution to Ken Kiunke and The Gold Country Times