It’s not exactly unexpected that THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY would release hi-res stills and a clip, as the film will have its premiere tonight in Wellington and arrive in cinemas worldwide just a few short weeks from now. But what makes this batch of new stills well worth your time is how they allow you to marvel at all of the little details that will no doubt flash by or fly completely under the radar as you’re being swept up by the film proper. Not to mention how you can get your first concrete glimpse at Saruman the White pre-betrayal, the troll sequence, the Goblin King (who looks very different than I imagined, not that there’s anything wrong with that), a very vibrant Rivendell, and how far Gollum’s animation has come since our brief glimpse of him in FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING.
Whether it be a design on a dwarf’s armor or the boils on the Goblin King’s face, it looks for all intents and purposes like the world of Middle Earth has once more been spectacularly realized and brought to life in a way fans of Tolkien’s world had only ever dreamed. And though it’s a bit late, I’m very thankful for that indeed.
I didn’t mean for this to get all sappy (there’s my Ent pun for the day), but there it is.