Thoughts of the Day: A Film Lover’s Unexpected Journey

A Film Lover’s Unexpected Journey

By: Jimmy Simpson

As the author of the inaugural “Thoughts of the Day” for Tracking Board, I was thinking about what topic could be grand enough, nay, epic enough to cover. Luckily for me, Peter Jackson dropped a bomb of epic proportions right in our lap: there will be a third movie in the “Hobbit” film series. This is obviously not breaking news; Jackson admitted during Comic-Con that discussions were ongoing as to how they could continue the story, and it wasn’t long afterwards that Jackson confirmed he wanted to make a third film. But with yesterday’s announcement, there’s no going back.

You see, this announcement is of particular importance for me. Some years back, when my dad and I had returned from a camping trip, my mom and sisters told me they’d gone to see a movie while we were gone that was really, really good. They told me all about it, recapping as best they could, the story, the characters, the long runtime that flew by with ease. But, I have to admit, even with all of their excitement, I was kind of surprised they’d liked it as much as they did. It sounded too weird to be as interesting as they’d made it seem. But being that they so heavily insisted that I see it, I made a point to take a trip down to the local dollar theater the next weekend to judge for myself.

I still remember the way the day started. Not because I was overwhelmingly excited, or prepared to hate what I was going to see, but because by the time I’d finally made it to the theater that night I was tired. So tired in fact, that I had started to nod off before the previews had come up. But then something happened: the trailers wrapped up, the lights went down, and the title finally made its way up onto the screen in front of me… “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” Within ten minutes, my fatigue was gone and my mind was blown.

Now, I had watched plenty of movies by this time in my life (I grew up with “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” readily available in my house), but this was the first time where the magic of film and the power of storytelling came together for me. Those three hours of screen time flew by and left me wanting more. I was ecstatic when a special trailer for “The Two Towers” aired after the credits and let me know that the next installment was coming. By the time I left the theater, I was to forever be a LOTR geek.

Over time, my love for Lord of the Rings began transferring over into other films. I found new appreciation for all the classics my family’s video collection contained. I laughed a little harder at Aladdin’s genie, cried a little harder when Mufasa died, cheered as Forrest Gump ran across America, and felt a surge of triumph when William Wallace cried out “FREEEDOOOOMMM!” And one day, with my eyes glued to the TV, I realized one important fact: “I want to tell these stories.” My love for film can easily be traced back to that spring day when Peter Jackson enthralled me with an amazing tale of a tiny hobbit and an epic journey ahead.

Fast forward to today, and I am more than a little concerned over the legacy of the film series that has become, for me and many others, sacred. We were all excited when “The Hobbit” was announced as a two-part film that would see all of the main creative team return, and add a little creative input from Guillermo del Toro. Even when the talk shifted into frames per second and 3D, I was not worried. “The story is what counts,” I told myself, “and Peter Jackson knows Middle-Earth.” But this news about a third film scares the shit out of me.

The truth is, I don’t know exactly what Peter Jackson has in mind for a “Hobbit” trilogy. Nobody does. He has said that the trilogy will not simply be the text of the book stretched out beyond its limits. It will include many of J.R.R. Tolkien’s later writings on Middle-Earth, specifically about what Gandalf, Galadriel, Saruman, and Sauron were up to during “The Hobbit”, and how that played into the action of the novel. Tolkien was even preparing to add these additions into a new, larger edition of his acclaimed children’s book when he died (these additions were later added to the end of “The Return of the King”, where they are labeled “Appendices”; next time you see a copy of the book, check this section out.) More than likely, these additions have not been read by many “Hobbit” readers and will actually offer plenty of new stories for the audience. So, on that note, I’m actually really excited about what Jackson could potentially bring to the table for a second trilogy.

However, every time I start putting my fears aside and start looking forward to summer 2014 (the projected release date for “The Hobbit: Part 3”), I once again return to that nagging question in the back of my head… does it need three films? The book is only three hundred pages for most editions; none of the LOTR books were that short and Jackson was able to deftly show each of those in one movie. Two movies were okay because, well, he’s Peter Jackson – if he wants two movies give him two movies. But three… why is it that three seems a little harder to swallow?

With two films, I can see it — there’s a lot of story, lots of characters, lots of history to wrap up in a franchise (even though this is a prequel). I look at it like I did when they announced the splitting of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” – “cool, more time to tell the whole story.” But now, with the announcement of a third film, I’m starting to get the same feeling I had when I heard “Twilight: Breaking Dawn” was getting split in two: “Really? Why? Oh yeah, more money.” (Just to get it out of the way, yes, I have seen the “Twilight” films. To anyone who proudly claims they haven’t wasted their time with this film or that film, I would like say: “Don’t be proud of your ignorance.” — Sergio Roma, “Get Him to the Greek”). But, back to the point, and the nagging question… is there enough story or justification for three films? Or, will this be the undoing of an otherwise perfect franchise?

In the end, I guess nobody will really know until the first film in the new trilogy unspools at my local (no longer dollar) theater, and we can once again find ourselves transported into the worlds of Middle-Earth. And this time around I can promise you that I’ll be the guy standing at the front of the line for the midnight screening, with 3D glasses in one hand, and a can of Red Bull in the other… just in case.