Peter Jackson returns to the fold in this epic prologue to THE LORD OF THE RINGS

Rating: 9/10 (16 December 2012)

THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY (2012) ***1/2 Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Dean O'Gorman, Aidan Turner, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, , Ian Holm, Elijah Wood, Hugo Weaving, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Sylvester McCoy, Barry Humphries, Jeffrey Thomas, Michael Mizrahi, Lee Pace, Bret McKenzie. Peter Jackson returns to the fold in this epic prologue to THE LORD OF THE RINGS, with the first tale of THE HOBBIT, pitting a formidable dwarf platoon led by grand wizard Gandalf (McKellen returning too boot) and reluctant Bilbo Baggins, the titular anti-hero, all out to stop the dwelling evil within the confines of Middle Earth and the surrounding fauna as well as the evil incarnate of dragon Smaug. While treading familiar territory for fan boys including some incredible set pieces (plenty of Orc battles YES!) the film is not an instant classic as its fore bearers largely due to the too many characters (a baker's dozen of regrettably forgettable dwarfs - sorry it's true) and very little darkness that permeated the previous trilogy. Still for epic filmmaking Jackson is in a class by himself reunited with Philppa Boyens and Fran Walsh (co-scripting with once-attached-to-helm Guillermo del Toro) and state-of-the-art CGI still non-paraleil (*I did see this in IMAX 3D however not in the new format where the FPS have been tinkered with).