The Hobbit that Tolkein probably wished he'd written

Rating: 10/10 (18 December 2012)

The Hobbit is being slated in many reviews for being excessively long and convoluted, due to Jackson's over-indulgence and the addition of too many subplots that turn a simple children's story into a fantasy epic along the lines of Tolkein's other great masterpiece.
Jackson should be commended, not criticised. Rather than produce a family-sized Christmas package for the popcorn munching crowd, he has done full justice to Tolkein's work. There will probably never be another movie version of The Hobbit in our lifetimes, and if a job's worth doing, then to hell with Hollywood tradition, and do the job well! The true Tolkein fan is in for a treat, because rather than rush the story to suit filmic convention, Jackson shows every detail. This creates pacing issues for the casual film-goer, but is an absolute delight for those of who have waited most of our lives to finally see a live-action version of one of the most popular books ever written.
Tolkein himself had many issues with The Hobbit. It was only later that he started creating the true complexities of Middle Earth, and even made an aborted attempt to rewrite the book in the true context of his imagined world – in which we know the true significance of Gollum, the ring, the Necromancer, the backstory of the dwarfs and elves and so much more. In many ways, Jackson's Hobbit is the one Tolkein himself wished he had written, a much darker and more complex visitation without the talking animals or the Enid Blyton-esque feel to the elves and goblins.
Every scene and piece of major dialogue from the book are included, the issue for Tolkein traditionalists will be the additions. 'Less is more' is not an expression in Jackson's vocabulary, the stone giants and chase in Goblin Town were so over-the-top that they drown out more subtle moments and serve to remove much of the dramatic tension. As our heroes escape unscathed time and again from the most ridiculous of perils, these situations start becoming more comical than foreboding.
The ending was the only departure from the book that perhaps spoiled it. As in LOTR, we have Jackson's gimmick of trying to make us believe that a major character has died, followed by an uncharacteristic bit of swashbuckling heroism from Bilbo that leads to his redemption with Thorin – which book readers know should really happen under far more emotional circumstances much later in the story.