Exhilarating Experience and Excellent Prequel

Rating: 8/10 (15 December 2012)

I'm not here to smash The Hobbit or favour it, I'm just going to put it in perspective of a viewer and a fan. Peter Jackson's way of displaying the story was different. This can be portrayed as either good or bad.
Story: The major events were portrayed differently than in the story which is to be expected as a movie too close to the book can be predictable and boring. The riddles between Bilbo and Gollum were the same which was one of the best parts in the movie. I would've liked the trolls to be tricked by Gandalf as in the book because it made it seem like Bilbo knew that Trolls could be killed by sunlight which didn't seem likely. They added a pale orc into the main story who is a rival of Thorin. I didn't like him especially since he was CGI'd. It was obvious. The rock giants scene felt a bit pushy in terms of putting things in. It was out of the blue and had no real purpose. Some of the dialogue was the same but it wasn't easy to tell when they were going to say it which I thought was great.
Effects: I am sorry to say but the orcs are now computer generated. I didn't like it. It was easy to tell whereas in LOTRO it felt like there was more connection between the characters. Gollum looked great as always. The 3-D added more to the story in terms of immersing you into certain areas. There's a part where a moth flies at the screen and since I hate bugs I moved a bit to get away from it and for a second forgot it wasn't real. The animals looked pretty real but you could tell when the horses were computerized and when they weren't.
If you are going to watch this movie, don't compare it to LOTRO, because it has some of the same feeling but it's more childish than it's predecessor. I kept expecting the rush that I got from watching LOTRO as a kid, but it wasn't there because this is it's own movie, although it is a prequel, it's its own movie in it's own right. Middle Earth felt the same in some respects which I loved. They had a way of explaining the differences between animals of LOTRO and The Hobbit so it wasn't too confusing. But this is a children's story and LOTRO was a bad a** otherworldly all out war movie. Comparing it to the book is good but don't expect everything to be the same. It's worth the money and the time and you'll never want this unforgettable journey to end.