Don't Listen to the Critics the Movie was Great

Rating: 9/10 (14 December 2012)

After reading some of the mainstream critics reviews I was kind of a reluctant to go and watch the Hobbit for fear that I would be disappointed in the same way I was after watching the Dark Knight Rises. Thankfully my concerns as well as the mainstream critics negative reviews proved to have been unfounded. A complaint I keep on hearing from the critics is regarding the pacing of the film. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the pacing. For a three hour long movie not only did it succeed in keeping my attention the entire time but when it ended it didn't feel as if three hours just went by. The pacing of this film can best be compared to an action packed 90 minute movie. The flow was excellent. To give you an example, when I went to watch Breaking Dawn Part 2, I kept looking at my watch to see what time it was because that movie was just dragging on and when that movie ended it felt as if I was in the theater for 8 hours. I enjoyed the action sequences in the Hobbit. Yes, the story is simplistic but that doesn't make the movie bad. The novel is only around 350 pages but that didn't stop it from becoming a literary masterpiece. The one real issue I had with the Hobbit was regarding character development. I like the way that Jackson began introducing Dwalin, Balin, Killi and Filli in the beginning. By doing this I got to know these four characters. Sadly that can't be said for the other 8 members of dwarf company. After Killi and Filli were introduced, Jackson decided to forgo further introductions and just brought the rest of the group into Bilbo's home. The consequence of this action is by the end of the movie I still didn't get to know the other dwarfs which was sad. In fact, for the rest of the movie, the other dwarfs rarely speak with the exception of Ori. Bombur was a funny character but he had maybe 5-6 lines in the whole movie. To me the other dwarfs just felt irrelevant. I am hoping in the next two films, Jackson will take more care and let us get to know the other wonderful characters in this story. Aside from this issue I felt this movie was a masterpiece. In my opinion I feel that the negative critiques from the mainstream critics is more political than anything. Look at the disparity between the critics and the average moviegoers. The critics give the film around a 48% while the average moviegoers (who are the people who actually matter) give the film a 90%. Normally the disparity between the two groups is closers. Check out the reviews for Breaking Dawn Part 2 and you see that the reviews of the critics and the audience is fairly even 54% and 56% respectfully.