An Unexpected Journey, or the morning after

[Galendor]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

This is comparable in some ways to my own full review http://opinionscanbewrong.blogspot.c...d-journey.html I think your points about Martin Freeman's Bilbo are particularly noteworthy. While I found him very watchable, his typical sense of bemused resignation to all the insanity around him didn't seem to mesh that well with Bilbo's combination of reluctance and burgeoning enthusiasm for adventure (even as presented in the film's own dialogue).

I saw the film, and thought Martin Freeman's portrayal of Bilbo was unfortunately quite shallow. Perhaps this isn't surprising, in his interview on the Colbert Report (Stephen Colbert is a true Tolkien fan) Freeman admitted he had not read The Hobbit (perhaps he gave it a quick read once he got the part). He had, however, seen Jackson's LOTR films and thought them to be "brilliant" (I suppose he had to say that). Freeman stated that the highlight of the experience for him was seeing "The Hobbit" brand Lego toys. Freeman also sums up his interpretation of the Bilbo character as a person who "is wrenched out of his life... and learns he might have to kill or be killed". I suspect most of us who love the book would not characterize Bilbo like that. Here is the Colbert/Freeman interview if you care to see it:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-col...martin-freeman