A welcome return to Middle Earth

Rating: 8/10 (11 March 2013)

I am a massive fan of the Lord of the Rings. All 3 films are easily in my favourites list. When I heard Peter Jackson was to head the Hobbit, this was exciting news. Then they announced it would be split into 3 parts and I was unsure about that. After watching the first part of this trilogy, my fears were somewhat realised. The Hobbit is by no means a long book, so to split it into 3 films would be like butter spread over too much toast. Jackson remedies this somewhat by bringing in characters and plot lines not in the book and the film still runs to about 2 and a half hours. I understand it was deliberately paced in this way but I felt it was a bit slow in parts and I think it would've been perfect if it was 2 films instead of 3.
However, the film is brilliantly cast. Martin Freeman plays a superb Bilbo, the "normal" person in the crazy bunch of characters. He plays the part of the viewer, doubting and showing fear where the rest charge fearlessly. Cameos from some of the LOTR cast are also welcome, as are the locations and sets. All said and done, I still really enjoyed this. As much as people will complain that the franchise is being milked, in all honesty I'm happy for any opportunity to revisit Jackson's middle-earth and if he wants to spread it over 3 films, then so be it. If you're a fan of the LOTR universe you'll watch this anyway, and in no way do I regret doing so. I'll re-watch it in the near future and hope it'll grow on me more then.