A warm welcome back to Middle Earth

Rating: 9/10 (9 November 2013)

Peter Jackson did such an utterly fantastic job on the Lord of the Rings trilogy that the Hobbit was bound to great. The Lord of the Rings movies are modern classics, so the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey had a lot to live up to. Overall, I feel as though the Hobbit met those expectations.
Unfortunately, the Hobbit did not receive the critical rave that the Lord of the Rings did. Many critics (and fans) criticized the Hobbit's use of 48 fps and its light and humorous tone. I disagree with both of these claims.
1. The critics should not have reviewed the Hobbit based on its use of 48 fps. Peter Jackson simply wanted to experiment with this new film form to see the reaction. Obviously, the reaction to 48 fps was not a positive one. But the frame rate of the movie should not be taken into account when reviewing it. It holds no significance in the movie's quality.
2. The light and humorous tone was absolutely intentional, but for a reason that many people did not understand. Many compared the Hobbit to the Star Wars prequels, saying that both had a lighter tone to accommodate children and the younger generation. This claim is false. The Hobbit had a lighter tone than the Lord of the Rings had because it takes place before the rise of Mordor and the discovery of the ring, so the world is much more peaceful and happy. Most likely, an Unexpected Journey will be followed by a much darker Desolation of Smaug.
The Hobbit did a fantastic job at being its own movie while also paying homage to the Lord of the Rings. I saw this film twice in theaters, and both times the audience was enthralled by the reappearance of characters and references to the original trilogy.
The actors were all perfectly cast, no doubt about it. Ian McKellan was Gandalf in the flesh (as he was before), it was wonderful to see Andy Serkis back as Gollum/Smeagol, and Richard Armitage had great presence as Thorin, but the actor that truly impressed me was Martin Freeman as Bilbo. Having read the Hobbit, Martin Freeman IS Bilbo. The rest of the cast was also charming.
Overall, the Hobbit is fantastic. It may not be considered a modern classic like its predecessors, but it still deserves recognition as a great fantasy film.