Epic, entertaining but a bit stretched

Rating: 7/10 (8 December 2014)

﻿I had seen the first Hobbit movie around the time it came out and sort of like it. Mind you I have never been a big fan of the franchise so I wasn't waiting for years for this film to be made. My only interest in this one was due to the fact that The Lord of the Rings films were entertaining and impressive.
The film is like The Lord of the Rings in the sense that it is epic, with great set pieces, beautiful landscapes and CGI, interesting characters and a decent screenplay. As the movie started I realized it was basically about money, power and also revenge. I honestly did not expect to see something so trivial in these movies. I was maybe too young when the others came out to see these things but I watched The Hobbit with grown up eyes and enjoyed.
The extremely long cast list scared me. I was afraid the film would be overcrowded and hard to follow but it's not. Of course, I know there are thirteen Dwarfs but I know the name of one - Thorin - and can describe at least two. As for the returning cast, it's great that they're in the movie because at least you have characters you care about so that you don't have to "waste" your time with the others whose names pretty much sound the same.
Freeman owns Bilbo, he's likable and fun to watch. I did not think for a second about Ian Holm who played an older version of Bilbo Baggins and is also in the film. Thorin (Armitage) was annoying, bad-ass but still annoying. He stood out because he was getting on my nerves. Gandalf was much more proactive and bad-ass in this movie, I really liked it. Gollum (Andy Serkis) stole the movie, he's more dangerous and creepy
In conclusion, An Unexpected Journey is entertaining but it is stretched. Some scene could have cut short. It starts really slowly but when the action takes off, it really does. The only thing I miss and hope to see in the other movies - because I have not watched them yet - is the comedic, funny scenes The Lord of the Rings movies had. The Hobbit may not be as dark and gritty but it's not as funny as the previous movies, or maybe I grew up.
So the Hobbit I know it's been years since it came out but we can spark up a conversation about the movie because we'll get to all of them soon. Tweet me @wornoutspines