"An unexpected journey" indeed!

Rating: 10/10 (14 December 2012)

As a big fan of the Tolkien Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books, then the LotR movies, frankly I did not hold much hope that The Hobbit would be as good as its predecessor movies. From the movie trailers I had seen, I was not impressed with the actor who plays Bilbo. But I went to see it anyway.
Wow! Peter Jackson does it again. I was transported to that realm that I remember from 10 years ago when I first saw Fellowship of the Ring. I had never seen such a good movie-from-book and was an immediate fan. I've seen them multiple times. The Hobbit is every bit as good and entertaining as the LotR movies. And Martin Freeman IS Bilbo Baggins; I was so wrong in being unimpressed with him in the trailers. And Thorin Oakenshield played by Richard Armitage is spot on. With many of the beloved characters being portrayed by the original actors, it was somewhat of a coming home after a long time. And for me, this point helps with any creative license that Jackson took in straying from the original story. (I don't go to movies based on books to "see a book" - I go to see the interpretation of the book. Bottom line, books don't generally make for good movies if taken word-for-word).
The photography/scenery was not as good as the LotR, IMO, for this first installment of The Hobbit but the music, the writing and the acting was so good I still gave it a 10. I'll take the latter over good photography/scenery any day. Jackson has managed to once again, take a fantasy and make it so desirable that one can hardly wait until 2013 and 2014 for the 2nd and final installments. Interestingly, BTW, for me my 3 hours sitting in the theater went by so fast I checked my watch at the end of the movie. A good sign, as I always say.