It has some problems, but I enjoyed it

Rating: 7/10 (7 March 2015)

I've been looking forward to this film ever since the word first got out. I am a huge J.R.R. Tolkien fan and I've read the book multiple times. One thing that particularly attracted me to the adaptation is that, at first announcement, Guillermo del Toro was chosen as the director. He is one of my favorite directors and I felt that he will bring a new approach that we haven't seen in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Then he was replaced by Peter Jackson. I had nothing against this decision, considering that he was the man behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy from almost ten years before.
To start off with, I was somewhat suspicious about the fact that there will be two (later three) films based on a book that is 300 pages long so I assumed that many scenes will be added from other Tolkien works related to the plot. They were also attempting to make the film accessible to those who haven't read the book and possibly even those who haven't seen The Lord of the Rings.
It is important to point out that this movie, which has a running time of 169 minutes in its theatrical release, covers about 120 pages of the book so it is clear that some scenes will drag on while others were added from The Return of the King appendices and Unfinished Tales.
As a matter of fact, for the first 90 minutes there is not much action involved. There are some flashbacks that involve a bit of action, but other than that the movie up to that point is mainly dialog and scenes that are only meant to introduce the characters and scenery to people who haven't read the book.
The acting in this movie is excellent. It is wonderful to see Ian McKellen return to play Gandalf and Martin Freeman's portrayal of Bilbo Baggins was spot on. However, my favorite character is Thorin, played amazingly by Richard Armitage. I can say that he is the Aragorn of this trilogy and, frankly, the main character of this story. One thing that bothered me is the company of dwarfs. There are thirteen of them but apart from a few, we don't anything about the others except their names.
The musical score by Howard Shore is wonderful as people have expected, considering the fact that he was the man behind The Lord of the Rings trilogy music, which are clearly some of the best film scores of all time. To my mind, An Unexpected Journey is not as great as, say, The Fellowship of the Ring, but it does contain some memorable themes and it makes it a good and pleasant listen.
Overall, this film is somewhat mediocre compared to any of the Lord of the Rings films and some fans might be disappointed. Myself, the only problem I have with it is that it is too long for the 120 pages it covers. Other than that, it has very good acting, very good visual effects and an excellent musical score. My opinion is based on the fact that I've read the book multiple times before watching the film so I had some expectations. However, as a standalone film, it will be entertaining to those who haven't read the book or have no idea about Tolkien's works. Considering all of these, I will give it a 7 out of 10.