"A hobbit? I never heard of a hobbit before? Sounds like orc mischief to me!"

Rating: 8/10 (14 December 2012)

I couldn't wait for this movie. I took my beautiful date Terra and my beautiful friend Gina and it would be a glorious night. But dang, is this movie long! I think it covered more than half the book!
In case you don't know, the movie starts with an old Bilbo narrating as that dragon Smaug attacks the dwarfs and steals their gold. Gandalf enlists young Bilbo (played brilliantly by Martin Freeman) invades his home with the dwarfs and the adventure begins. A lot of amazing things happen along the way (I especially like the scene with the trolls and the fight in the Ewok village later in the movie) but I hate to say it, but man I sure miss Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli from Lord of the Rings. I really didn't care for either of the dwarfs. I loved Bilbo and Gandalf, but these dwarfs. Ugh. Especially, Troin, or whatever his name was, he just seems so bitter and one-dimensional. He hates the elves and finds an awful place to sleep. I swear, every time he finds a place to sleep, trouble happens. He always seem to endanger them when he finds shelter. I also don't know much about the other dwarfs other than they act like children and get mad when someone is trying to help them, especially the elves. Then every single time they are in danger, you know Gandalf will be there to save them. It happens every time. Gandalf should be on this quest by himself! Just to get one more negative out of the way, some scenes drag on a little longer than they should and I almost think this could have been made into one movie.
With that being said, I absolutely loved Bilbo. I enjoyed every scene he was in. Martin Freeman's performance really captured what I think of when I think of a hobbit. Also his scenes with Gollum are simply fantastic. The game of riddles was handled so wonderfully, that I almost wished that was the entire film. Ian McKelland's Gandalf was also excellent, as always, and really the two characters of Bilbo and Gandalf are the core of this film.
If you are a Lord of the Rings fan, definitely see this movie. Despite some of my criticisms, I still think it was a really good movie. I'm looking forward to the next one in 2013.