‘The Hobbit Movie’ – A Lone Voice Speaks Out!

There’s been a lot of noise online, recently about whether Peter Jackson will play any part in the making of ‘The Hobbit’ into a film. Jackson doesn’t get on with the studio who owns the film rights, Jackson does get on with the studio, the studio is getting someone completely different to direct/produce the film… The rumours go on and all the while, millions of LOTR fans wait for certain people to get their act together and get this film made. After all, the first three films were great so therefore ‘The Hobbit’ will be as well! Won’t it…?
I was having a flick through the book the other day and what I saw not only sent a chill down my spine but also made me jump off the ‘Hobbit Bandwagon’ and raise my voice in an impassioned plea that this film never be made. Don’t get me wrong, I love the book just as much as the next person but just four words will have you agreeing with me that ‘The Hobbit’ should stay on the bookshelf. Are you ready? Here goes… Too many stupid songs...
There are just too many stupid songs in ‘The Hobbit’ for it to achieve the grandeur and majesty of the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, that’s a fact. We’re looking at a film that will make full use of New Zealand’s stunning scenery and then massacre it with cheery songs about giant spiders and wine barrels… You thought Shelob was scary in ‘Return of the King’, just wait until you’ve sat through a comedy dance number about her offspring (because if there are songs then there will be dancing, mark my words). And it’s not just the songs either, it’s who you will find singing them. Remember the dwarves in ‘Fellowship of the Ring’? Stolid and gruff characters that were brave and true… Half an hour into ‘The Hobbit’, these very same dwarves will sing a little ditty about how they’re going to trash Bilbo’s house! What about the elves? Majestic, ethereal beings with a history stretching back to the very first days of Middle Earth. Remember how graceful they were in the films? In a chapter called ‘A Short Rest’, your dreams will be shattered as the elves start singing a song in the style of a badly done school production, it’s not pretty… “But that’s ok though” I hear you say, “we’ve still got plenty of goblins and stuff, it can’t be all bad!” Ah yes, the goblins… Those nasty creatures that came pouring out of the walls in Moria. They carry a fine tune as well I’m afraid. Yes, wherever you go in this book you can’t turn around without a song being sung in your face. Is this the film you want to see?
I’ll play devils advocate with myself and admit that I want to see ‘The Hobbit’ on the big screen, of course I do, I’m a fan. However, you’ve got to wonder if a book that was written for children will work as a film when placed alongside its adult counterparts. What’s the best way round this? Should ‘The Hobbit’ be more adult in nature (even at the risk of it losing its essence)? Should it be made as a film in its own right that plays to its strengths and distances itself from the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy? I don’t know but I feel a little trepidation about what I will see when ‘The Hobbit’ appears in the cinema…