As Good as How Good a Movie Can Be

Rating: 10/10 (14 December 2012)

I had my doubts whether Peter Jackson would be a "three-hit wonder", but after watching the Hobbit the day it premiered, I couldn't be more wrong. The story started out slow, gathering momentum. Jackson did some smart moves by purposely not letting us see how the dragon looks like for suspense. After rewatching LOTR, I realised how much effort Jackson made in ensuring continuity. For example, did you know that Frodo and Bilbo were wearing the exact same clothes in LOTR? I mean, nobody would noticed if they did not, but he made them wear it anyway. This shows how good a director Jackson is. In fact, the movie is so good that I watched it twice. I feel that more emphasis should be given on each dwarf, besides the 3 goodlooking ones (Thorin, Kili, Fili), as I can't really differentiate between them. Also, Gandalf exists as a mere deux ex machina to save the day. My favourite moments would be their "roller-coaster" like battles with Azog (jumping from tree to tree) and trapped below ground. Misfortune seems to find them all the time. Also, I especially liked the riddles between Gollum and Bilbo. The most important thing of the movie is it is much more thrilling with 3D and is funnier than LOTR. This movie also taught me some pretty important quotes. Gandalf said, "Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay... small acts of kindness and love." This practically goes against all the banal Disney superhero tripe that someone "Superman/Batman" always saves the day, but they don't realise that crap wouldn't happen if the citizens weren't so messed up anyway. All in all, the movie is very exciting and sometimes scary, but the story is deep with beautiful words and ideology.