Perfection!

Rating: 10/10 (15 December 2012)

The Hobbit seemed like it would be a difficult book to make into a movie. In one way, it is a silly children's book with some silly characters. But the situations these characters get into are really life threatening and scary! Also, even though they are continuations of the same story, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings have very different tones, with LOTR being very serious throughout.
I should not have worried, though. In Peter Jackson's capable hands, An Unexpected Journey, the first part of The Hobbit comes to life in a beautiful way! He captures the silly moments, but tones them down just enough that they blend with the harrowing and frightening situations encountered on the journey without seeming jarring. The acting is all top notch with Martin Freeman's Bilbo Baggins being completely lovable and charming! In this first part of the story, we are just getting to know all the dwarfs and their tales, but already we are rooting for them!
I've seen this movie in regular 2D and in IMAX 3D 48 fps and enjoyed it equally both ways. The movie was more visually brilliant in the 3D 48 fps, but that was offset somewhat by the distracting reflections I continually saw in the periphery of y 3D glasses.
I highly recommend it his movie!