The Hobbit manages to successfully avoid the traps that the Star Wars prequels fell into

Rating: 9/10 (13 August 2013)

Peter Jackson's The Lord Of The Rings trilogy is my second favorite trilogy ever (Sorry guys, but in my book Nolan's Batman is still number 1), so naturally I was skeptical when I heard that they were making The Hobbit into a trilogy. But I have to say that while An Unexpected Journey isn't even in the same ballpark as the LOTR trilogy, it is still really kickass. The story is one of the stronger points of An Unexpected Journey. It is well told and intense. Since they are turning this into a trilogy, some central plot points are pulled out of someone's ass. Surprisingly, this didn't annoy me at all and these points are really well integrated into the key central story. But I hate the way the film ends, like literally it just "Ends". Nevertheless, I'm intrigued to see where the story goes. It helps that this script is so well written and contains great dialogue. The visuals are also incredible. Due to the higher frame rate, there is so much stuff going on on screen. While it does feel a bit jarring at first, there came a point where I got used to it. The film is true eye candy, especially during the awesome action scenes that deliver edge-of-your-seat thrills. There is not a single effect that doesn't look brilliant, these are some of the most incredible visuals of the decade. What I personally like the most about An Unexpected Journey is the acting. Everyone in the cast naturally gives Oscar-worthy performances, but once again the one who steals the show is Andy Serkis, who returns as Gollum. Gollum not only looks better detailed, but he is given much better material to work with here despite him being on screen for only like 20 minutes. But what a glorious 20 minutes it is, these twenty minutes are better than any of the scenes containing Gollum in the trilogy. You truly feel sorry for him and see the helpless side of him, cause remember: He is a slave to the ring, and it is the only thing he cares about anymore. Naturally, you know what happens, but it is still heartbreaking. Why wasn't Andy Serkis given an Oscar for his performance here?! I don't understand why critics are being so stupid when it comes to rating this film. It deserves a far higher score on Rotten Tomatoes than it currently has. This is a truly great film and a great beginning to what will surely be an epic trilogy.