A long-expected success!

Rating: 9/10 (9 January 2013)

After a fall of underwhelming cinematic fare, I had long-anticipated a film that would condone going to the theaters. Fortunately, one existed. In the crisp mid-December chill, we were invited to return to Middle Earth after a 9-year break. Yes, I thought to myself, this film will be truly epic. A newcomer to the Lord of the Rings franchise, I had spent the last year procuring copies of and rabidly watching the original trilogy. None of these titles disappointed, whether it was the character-driven Fellowship of the Ring or the darker war-film The Two Towers or the emotional and triumphant Return of the King each film proved to be epic. So after watching the trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey thirty somewhat times, I was ready for another classic film.
Unsurprisingly, Peter Jackson delivered this time abet a few flaws in the film's pacing. I was treated to a rich, touching adventure in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien with some memorable characters and intense action pieces. The reason why I say some memorable characters is due to the immense supporting cast. We had Gandalf the Grey: wise and wisecracking, Bilbo Baggins: Reluctant but eventually develops beautifully, Thorin Oakenshield: The stoic and solemn leader of the party and 12 other dwarfs who never got enough screen-time. We'll probably see a lot more of them in future movies, but I never bothered to learn all of their names, they were just uncharacteristic faces that made up their company, and some of them could fight well I hate to be a nitpicker but that was my major quim with the film.
Other than the underwhelming Dwarfs, I found the movie quite enjoyable and found that the Production Design really was given the chance to shine here. We had some fantastic costumes, ranging from the elegant and proud Elrond to the paranoid and silly Radagast. Taking a page from the previous trilogy, the costume designers really just had to get back into their old mindset and think like they did ten years ago. The hobbits still wear periodic corduroy suits with bare over-large hairy feet and the dwarfs still have extravagant beards. But it doesn't stop there, the film is shot, once again, on location in New Zealand, hobbit-holes and all. This really added to the feel of the film, bringing Middle Earth to life with magnificent locations and a truly epic feel. When the crew wasn't fighting mountain trolls or evading a swarm of angry goblins they were trekking up the Misty Mountains to a truly magnificent score written by Howard Shore.
As far as the acting was concerned, this movie truly delivered. Martin Freeman was the perfect Bilbo Baggins, he came off exactly as I pictured him when I read the book in the 5th grade. The audience really fell in love with him in the beginning of the film when he had the conversation with Gandalf about the "Good Morning." It was then that I decided that he really was perfect for the role. Which brings me to another actor, Ian Mckellen was once again a show-stealer as Gandalf. The scenes where he isn't shown are never quite as good as he is more or less one of the icons of the entire franchise as a whole.
By far the greatest scene in the film was the infamous "Riddles in the Dark" where Bilbo falls down into a cave and encounters the creature Gollum, who is obsessed with the Ring of Power, but still really playful. There, Bilbo has a game of riddles with Gollum, putting his life on the line in exchange for the way to escape the Goblin Cavern. When Bilbo finds the ring and the theme from the past movies is played, I got chills. And Andy Shirkis as Gollum is and has always been a delight. Gollum is a really interesting character, he has two personalities to him, the Murderous and conniving Gollum and Sméagol the friendly character who wants to play games and help hobbitses. This scene really embodies the film as a whole: playful, but dangerous and it shows that Peter Jackson is still very capable of directing this fantastic series.
As a whole, this movie did not disappoint, sure it was different than the other movies, but it's supposed to be The Hobbit was written for little kids! It still has Peter Jackson's DNA coursing through its legendary veins.
4 ½ stars (out of 5)