Not a classic but a welcome return to Middle Earth

Rating: 8/10 (23 October 2018)

For those who aren't aware, the Hobbit movies are the prequels to the tremendously successful "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. While the original trilogy was based on a massive three-volume novel, the novel upon which the Hobbit movies are based is comparatively slim. Nevertheless, the studios involved managed to stretch this content out to three films spanning a combined total of 462 minutes. The term "cash grab" definitely comes to mind.
That being said, with "Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson returning to helm this trilogy, the endeavour wasn't purely motivated by profit. Jackson treats Tolkien's source material with respect and his intentions probably had more to do with fleshing out the story than with artificially inflating the overall runtime. Really, the studios would have been foolish to place arbitrary restrictions on what was pretty much a guaranteed hit. Still, I can't help but wonder if a more condensed version of the story would've yielded better results.
In any case, this time around the hero of the story is Bilbo Baggins, who (like Frodo in "The Lord of the Rings") is a rather reserved Hobbit who has adventure thrust upon him. In this chapter of the story, he's called upon to act as a burglar for a group of dwarves who are trying to reclaim their ancestral mountain home from the clutches of a vicious dragon. Naturally, Bilbo is reluctant to accept at first but he eventually relents and joins the group on their quest.
Apart from Peter Jackson, there are some other welcome links to the original trilogy. Chief among those is Ian McKellen, who reprised his Oscar-nominated role as Gandalf. That wasn't all, though. Other returning cast members included Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving & Christopher Lee. Having all of these familiar faces around really helps to establish the movie as an extension of the ones that preceded it. The new cast members are numerous, though I don't really think that there are too many standouts. I will say, however, that Martin Freeman makes a very good Bilbo Baggins, so at least the movie has that going for it.
With Jackson in the director's chair again you pretty much know what to expect. The movie unsurprisingly has a very familiar feel, which is a good thing. This extends to areas of the production like screenwriting, cinematography & music, all of which were at least partially handled by returning crew members. Basically, if you liked the epic feel of the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy then here's more of the same. There's a bit more of a lighthearted feel this time around, though, which probably isn't surprising considering that "The Hobbit" was technically written for children. Be that as it may, this movie adaptation is serious enough when the plot requires it.
All in all, this first Hobbit movie is a pretty good bridge from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. I certainly wouldn't call it a classic but it is a worthwhile and enjoyable return to the same world. These movies definitely turned out a lot better than the Star Wars prequels, though that isn't really saying much. Like the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, I think that the middle entry is the weakest but the beginning & final chapters make the overall effort worth it.