Very different and very very good!

Rating: 9/10 (13 December 2012)

I had huge expectations before watching this movie and I was certainly not disappointed!
The only thing was that I went in expecting the movie to be somewhat similar to LOTR which it definitely is not and honestly I was a bit disappointed at first because of this. Luckily this changed quickly when I realized that the movie was never meant to be the same as the trilogy. This movie is a lot more humorous and offers much more comic relief than the trilogy.
Many critics mentioned that the beginning of the movie was too long. I have no idea why! I loved the beginning! The first meeting between Bilbo and Gandalf was perfect and I loved it. The only thing, in the beginning, that seemed slightly unnecessary was the whole "dance of the dishes" with the dwarfs, which I didn't actually like very much.
I love Martin Freeman as Bilbo! He was perfect for the part and the character itself was very good. Some has called him one-dimensional but I don't see why. The character has real depth and develops throughout the story.
Probably my favorite moment in the movie was the meeting between Bilbo and Gollum/Smeagol. It was fantastic to see Smeagol again and they really overdid themselves with him this time. He is ridiculously charming and funny and you feel so bad for him when he loses The One Ring. Another great part of the movie is when our heroes are in Rivendell. It was so nostalgic to see Lord Elrond, Saruman, and especially Galadriel again.
The 3D worked very well throughout the film and the scenery was amazing to say the least - truly magnificent.
I was a bit afraid that the movie would seem drawn-out since it is a relatively small book and this is only the first of three. Luckily, my fears were unnecessary. I found the movie to be over very fast and I was not bored for a second.
So all in all a terrific movie. The only reason I'm not giving it 10 is that there were some scenes that seemed unnecessary and some of the humor became a bit repetitive towards the end (the fat dwarf for instance).