The Hobbit: A Self-Indulgent Journey

Rating: 7/10 (18 October 2016)

Peter Jackson's controversial film trilogy of The Hobbit has come and gone from theaters; and now that the dust has settled after nearly four years, An Unexpected Journey is an enjoyable but self-indulgent movie that could have been made into a much more focused and less superficially extended version of the book which it was based upon.
I actually do like The Hobbit Trilogy, but it falls short of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in so many areas that it's a little sad that the same hands making it couldn't cast the same magic here. Martin Freeman keeps the whole thing afloat with his pitch-perfect performance as the reluctant but lovable adventurer Bilbo Baggins, and Ian McKellen is still wonderful as Gandalf the Grey, still the same awesome wise-old-sage that he was in The Lord of the Rings. The casting helps keep the classic characters from sinking with the rest of the film's fake-extending of 'unexplored' parts in the original novel, which unfortunately does affect a lot of things that don't add to the overall (relevant) story.
Peter Jackson does know how to direct action sequences quite well, and knows when to contrast that with Bilbo's quirky Englishman-esque homeliness and manner, but there was no need for the film to feature foreshadowing of The Lord of the Rings films directly, like having Saruman in council with Gandalf, Galadriel and Elrond at Rivendell before Bilbo and the dwarfs journeyed to Goblin-town? I personally don't think so. It wasn't necessary, or even at all, in the book so why does that need to be here? I guess it was the obligatory run-time. That and the jarring addition of an Orc villain confrontation (we only needed Smaug the Dragon).
If you are a fan of The Lord of the Rings films, this may very well be your cup of tea, or not. For those who don't care either way, stay away from it; you'll probably get bored.