Solid, but iffy for lovers of the book.

Rating: 7/10 (25 July 2014)

Since I know nobody really cares about my personal opinion of this movie, I'll give it later and first give The Hobbit an objective overview for any passing moviegoer. The film is good for action lovers, but the majority of the action comes after almost an hour and a half. The climax should not disappoint those who stick with the movie all the way. The storyline is good, but is much easier to follow if you are familiar with the book. There is nothing of significance deleted from the original text, but quite a bit is added, which I know is not always appealing to people who like movies to follow their books exactly. Azog the goblin, who is barely mentioned in the book, is the main villain apart from Smaug. Radagast the brown wizard is given a small role that is not included in the book. The personality and role of the other main characters are retained, though Gollum is used sort of as a comic relief character and Bofur the dwarf seems to get a large amount of screen time. There is an emotional subplot of Bilbo being homesick and unsure of his decision to join the dwarfs' expedition. In my own opinion, the last hour is excellent, especially Bilbo's return speech. There is a little bit too much humor added to what should be a more serious movie. It is not as good as The Lord of the Rings trilogy in any regard, but is still a solid movie with a great ending. I very much like Martin Freeman as the young Bilbo, and I especially like his added moment of heroism at the end. The movie is a CGI feast that I would recommend for most middle earth fans and action lovers.