The Hobbit does not deserve this hate!

Rating: 8/10 (28 December 2012)

Why is this being hated upon so badly? I am a die-hard Lord of the Rings movie fan (and the Hobbit was the only book I read of Tolkeins LOTR novels!), I never read any of the books that inspired Peter Jacksons LOTR trilogy. It seems that the Hobbit is being hated on by everyone, the bookworms who nitpick about every detail and change, and the movie critics who were used to the tone of the LOTR movies and hated the changes, even though there are still elements of the original trilogy here. And this is just part 1, part 2 will be much more serious and invoking than part 1, that's the way it is with trilogies usually: first film you get a look at the problem, a lighthearted or easy going intro to all the characters you'll come to love,then it just ups the ante from there on until the serious, epic, and emotional climax.
This film actually follows the book pretty well, perfectly at times, all with the exception of the additional scenes, like the conversation with Saruman and Lady (starts with G, can't spell), or the completely new (and admittedly too goofy) wood wizard and his rabbit sled... I will admit that was a little much. But this film makes up for it with a perfect interpretation of the Riddle scene with Gollum and Bilbo.
CGI is becoming a big part in cinema, and whether or not it's well integrated or realistic with the real people on set is up to the animators. The White orc is CGI animated as well, and this is very awkward to see at first, but towards the end of the film he starts to seem less fake. Gollum is AMAZING, more real, and creepier than ever. The troll scene was a touch silly, but it was meant to be that way from the book standpoint in my opinion, and the trolls looks very well done. And I'm glad at least some of the orcs/goblins are still people in make-up like the original films, they always looked great. But the majority of the goblins are Cg, including the incredibly bulbous Goblin King (who is well done in his own right, though his death didn't exactly follow the book, but it still worked). The change in design of the Wargs really bugged me at first, but the White Orcs white warg (tongue twist there for you, lol) was admittedly bad ass looking, and made up for it.
Characters are great too, Bilbo is done perfectly, Gandalf is awesome as always. The 12 dwarfs are a very lovable, yet mostly unidentifiable bunch, aside from characteristics (the fat one, the young dashing one, etc), outside of Thorin (perfect) and one or two more whose names escape me presently. And it was really nostalgic to see old faces like Frodo, Elrond, Saruman, and while not required, it was nice to see these characters at this point in time in the LOTR storyline.
I don't want to spoil too much, but bottom line, it's a good fantasy film. Only problems I have with it is some of the silly moments, really large-ass subtitles when foreign tongues are spoken, and the inconsistency of the tone at times (which is pretty much why so many people punish it so) but it really makes up for it with the Riddle scene, how it flows along with the events in the book, great characters (both real and CGI), and in the second half of the film when it decides to stick with one tone, and hopefully the next parts will do better with this.
Definitely one of 2012's best, 8.5/10