Welcome!
Welcome, everyone, I am The Black Watcher. That does not refer to my skin colour, as I am in fact a white male from Scotland, but it does bare reference to my family army regiment 'The Black Watch'. As the word 'watcher' suggests, I am a fan of film and television...and video games e.t.c. This will be the foundation upon which my humble blog will be built, and that is reviews. I won't set any strict date for new reviews as the unpredictability of secondary education has somewhat crippled my ability of foresight beyond what I can currently repair, and as a result of this I can't really stick to any deadlines. Now, there are many things I cannot guarantee but here are some things that I can. I will not be biased (a media text is a media text, regardless of who made it) and I will not water down my opinions. For example, if I believe one film to be the complete embodiment of cinematic perfection, I'll tell you, and if I believe a film to be the epitome of my dread and sufffering in a motion picture format, I will also tell you. One other thing is that I will, as much as it pains me to say, watch films and play games that I would normally not even allow into my home for the benefit of my currently non existent fanbase. So whether you're just an innocent, internet dwelling member of the general public looking for something to read, or just a fan of media who is looking for a critic who may appeal to them, I will try my best to please you all.Do svidanya-JamieIf you have any queries/opportunities, please contact me at www.facebook.com/blackwatcherreviews.
'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' (2012) Film Review
Let me start this review by simply adding that I am an avid fan of The "Lord of the Rings" films. I have seen all three extended editions at least twenty times through and have never once thought to myself "Do I really want to watch this again?", because they are simply that good. Peter Jackson's masterpiece was a true stroke of genius and showed a clear love and above all respect for the cherished tales of the people of Middle Earth that Tolkien created that not many other directors, in my humble opinion, can boast. Naturally, the thought of a return to Middle Earth on the silver screen thrilled me and led me to, once again, fully re-watch the LOTR trilogy, and I spent the next year waiting with my expectations set upon a bar so high that even The Dark Lord Sauron would have found difficult to see. Then as release day grew ever closer, I found myself reading the reviews of the selected few that were chosen to watch the film prior to general release. After seeing that dreaded percentage, my heart fell deeper than Moria with a feeling that I can only describe as utter fear and a sense of total sickening disappointment. "This can't be true" was my only thought, nevertheless, I read more, only to discover that this negative opinion of the film was a fairly recurrent nightmare of mine.
When I left yesterday and approached my local cinema, I couldn't help but hold that negative opinion in my chest, worrying all the way through the ads. It began, and I watched it, only to discover it had not managed to land on that bar of expectations. No, what "An Unexpected Journey" really did was ascend so far above that bar that it could only be viewed as a dash from where the film stayed.
It is to my delight, that I can happily say that the negative reviews are wrong. There's no other way to put it. As an opener to the trilogy, it beat "The Fellowship of the Ring". From the moment that I heard those all too familiar words "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit", to the fully satisfying conclusion, I was gripped. No, it's not The Lord of the Rings, but it was never meant to be. The Hobbit is an altogether different tale, a more innocent part of the stories of Middle Earth, but nevertheless, "An Unexpected Journey" still carried some of the grit and sense of epic scale that made its spiritual older brothers the classics they are, whilst still retaining the innocent charm of The Hobbit's story. From the surprisingly humorous banter of the Dwarves, to the comic reluctance of Martin Freeman's spectacularly played Bilbo, "An Unexpected Journey" seamlessly blended The Hobbit's original humorous charm as well as it's spectacular action, and serious messages that include a fair few things surrounding Tolkien's appendices, which Jackson felt he had to include, much to my delight, such as the origin of the hatred between Dwarves and Elves. Particular highlights of the film for me were Richard Armitage and Martin Freeman's fantastic performances as Thorin and Bilbo respectively, as well as Ian McKellen's Gandalf, Andy Serkis' Gollum, Elijah Wood's Frodo and finally Christopher Lee's Saruman, who all made this film not only the dream of my inner Lord of the Rings fanboy, but also of my inner fan of good films.
The CGI is, as usual, a cut above the rest, which blends in very well indeed, the controversial 48fps frame rate was initially somewhat disorientating, but soon became a very clever, and very welcome addition to my metaphorical box of technical favourites. The soundtrack from Howard Shore was enchanting, as usual, with some familiar favourites that LOTR fans are bound to recognise, as well as the new signature track named 'The Misty Mountains' that struck me as an instant icon throughout the film. The choreography was fantastic, the costumes were stunning, and the setpieces were astounding. My one and only problem with the film was in the form of Gandalf's apparent desire to tell people to run. Apart from that, I honestly feel that I couldn't have asked for more.
Score
10/10
-Jamie
Copyright Jamie King 2013, All Rights Reserved, permissions may be granted by request.
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