Utterly spectacular, although very much different from LOTR

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2013)

I have seen the movie four times: once in 2D and three times in 3D 48fps. More on technology issues at the end of the review. Now let me discuss the movie itself.
The Hobbit is absolutely fantastic. I think Peter Jackson did his best to transform a relatively simple story for younger kids into a movie which is comparable to the Lord of the Rings movies. Of course, the Hobbit plot has certain limitations that can't be overcome. It does not have and, in fact, will never have that magnitude and solemnity of the Lord of the Rings. I think, then, a lot of disappointment expressed in some reviews comes from a serious misunderstanding of what is being reviewed: the movie or the plot (which after all is quite faithful to the book). The result is that, since the plot of the Hobbit will never be as good, as complex as the one in LOTR, some people were disenchanted. But if you look at the movie itself, the Hobbit defends itself and indeed is at least as good as Fellowship of the Ring.
Now some details:
I fundamentally disagree with the opinions that the movie is stretched and that the pace is too slow. Well, I believe the pace is just right. I hate to say that but I wish LOTR movies had this kind of pace and space for character exposition (fortunately the extended edition of LOTR solves this problem - at least to some extent). As a result, the scenes in Hobbiton are actually my favorites, being full of funny dialogs and situations.
I was afraid there will be a lot of cheesy humorous scenes, but actually there were few and far between (actually you can find these in LOTR as well). Still, I have to admit, there is a lot of humor in the Hobbit, which stems from the fact that The Hobbit is intended as a more light- hearted movie than LOTR - a mere introduction to the Middle Earth, still free of Sauron which will return later. This clearly surprised a lot of people who expected a similar tone to the one in LOTR (though they shouldn't if they read the book)!
Highlights:
There are many:
1. I loved the prologue 2. I loved Riddles in the Dark – this one really IS a killer. 3. I loved Stone Giants battle – utterly spectacular, visually it's one of the best scenes I have ever seen. 4. I loved all the scenes with Azog – for me this character is almost as scary as Black Riders although I wish PJ had not made him a CGI character 5. I loved the scene with Radagast in Dol Guldur - really creepy! 6. I loved the scenes with Warg scouts and Eagles. 7. Acting is superb (Martin Freeman and Armitage - I say it's better than in LOTR). 8. Great music.
As for the technology, I have seen the movie four times and I definitely prefer 48fps version. Frankly I don't understand all this fuss about this new format. It looks good, the battle and landscape scenes look less chaotic and blurry.
Conclusions:
All in all, a great movie. Surely, a couple of things could have been done better (my only complaint is the excessive reliance on CGI) but given the limitations of the plot, Peter did a great job.
I also believe the Hobbit will get a better reception in time once people fully realize it is a different story from LOTR.
zentaur