Too much CGI, otherwise okay

Rating: 8/10 (15 December 2012)

I loved the Tolkien works so much as a kid that I often have mixed feelings with Jackson's work - he does a great job of casting and cinematography, but goes overboard where I don't think it's necessary. That holds true here, where the CGI just gets out of control too often in what is otherwise a fairly spectacular if overdone film. The Hobbit was more of a fairy tale than "serious" fantasy, so I don't take Jackson to task for any plot deviations from the source work. Actually, he develops another wizard, Radagast, in a way that was unfortunately ignored by Tolkien. And he also wraps in familiar characters from the trilogy that fans of those movies will appreciate. His idea to take a book shorter than any of the trilogy and expand it into three distinct movies is also inspired. Great stuff, only marred by the excessive CGI and a way too long running time with too much filler. Unlikely that he will tone it down for the second and third parts but you can always hope... P.S. I have watched the LOR movies many times each. I have no interest in ever seeing this movie or the sequel again. I don't know what that means except it just feels really overlong and overcooked.