Back to Middle Earth

Rating: 8/10 (16 December 2012)

Well, to begin with - this movie is for those who just hadn't had enough of the Middle-Earth adventures with the almost 10 hours saga of LOTR. And I am one of those. For the non-LOTR hardcore fans, it's like the movie being too long, being dragged or just piling on the LOTR popularity to mint money from making a trilogy out of a 19 chapter book.
On the story line, The Hobbit takes you 60 years back before Frodo's venture to Mordor began. With the ever-inspiring Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) recruits Bilbo (wasn't impressed with Martin playing this character initially, but turns out he fits quite well) to a team of 13 dwarfs set to reclaim their lost home encountering orcs, goblins, trolls, the ol' Smeagol, the Ring & more to come. Starts lil slow at Bag'end, the pace then picks up once the journey begins leading to some intense chase and action sequences.
On the technicalities, the 3D instead of being a distraction here, its actually quite effective and has got impressive clarity too (supposing its coz of the high frame-rate 3D 48fps). Thumbs up to Howard shore for the epic music plus a mention for the haunting Richard Armitage "Misty Mountains Cold".
And Peter Jackson - you are the guy for Epic Movies, not for some family tragedies. Good to see you back.
The only disappointment being a year long wait for "The Desolation of Smaug".