Entertaining but no Lord of the Rings

Rating: 6/10 (14 April 2013)

I went into the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey knowing full well what Peter Jackson and his team had to live up to. I wasn't expecting it to be as good as the Lord of the Rings because in my opinion the book isn't as good but the film impressed me none the less.
The acting was tremendous and as so many have said: Martin Freeman was born to play Bilbo Baggins. Ian McKellen delivered once again but the real star of the show had to be Andy Serkis. The scene with Gollum was funny, effective and a great insight into the character.
Although some of the first scenes with Radagast the Brown were unnecessary it was good to see the rise of the 'necromancer' at Dol Guldor.
My only complaints are: Why is white orc needed? He did feature in the appendixes like Radagast but not in such an important role, in the film he merely serves to have an evil villain before the introduction of Smaug.
Nonetheless this is a great film and anyone who enjoyed Lord of the Rings should see it therefore earning a well deserved 8/10