Reflections after seeing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Rating: 7/10 (11 December 2012)

First of all, let me say I'm a great fan of all of Tolkiens works. Silmarillion is being read like the bible in my house, and yet I can't feel satisfied with this first part of The Hobbit.
It is much more true to the book than the previous LOTR trilogy, which is a great plus. Another thing worth mentioning is the CGI, at parts fantastic, but as well with some flaws that kind of annoyed me a little, such as some of the dark spawn and their pets. Since the original story is such a fantastic tale of the bravery found in places never even considered, it is hard to make anything else than a solid story for this adaption. But I feel there are some lack of commitment from some of the cast. Most of the actors (females are pretty much none existent) does a good job with the characters, but I can't feel with the characters as I did in the LOTR trilogy, which I was pretty critical of from the beginning due to not following the books properly (you who actually read the books knows what I mean), but those actors made you feel for them, regardless.
But what really made this movie just a good fantasy flick instead of a great one, is the first hour or so. If you ever watched the British soap opera "Emmerdale", this looks pretty much the same. The camera work felt under par for this part, though the settings are pretty nice. The other thing I would like to criticize is the many Jar-Jar Binks turning up here. He was funny for the first 5 minutes of Star Wars ep 1, but here we gets plenty of the same thing. My guess to why? For selling as much merch as possible to kids and their parents of course, there are no other explanation since a majority probably agrees with me; Jar-Jar is lame.
This movie is really hyped, I get that, and as a side effect this movie will and have gained a much higher rating here on IMDb than it deserved. I give it a 7 for a solid effort, but in some ways it lacks the depth that Tolkiens masterpiece provides, and that is a big shame.
edit: There seems to be lots of people that doesn't find this review useful. Never mind those negative voters since those most certainly are in the category of people that hails everything that Hollywood produces, no matter what. As long as the budget is gigantic and the CGI is massive, those people are satisfied. This review is not for those people. This review are for those who actually intend to use their own brains, even if it is just for a slight second.