The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Plot synopsis:
Prologue: During the preparations for the birthday party at the beginning of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the elderly Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) is writing a memoir. He describes the fabulously wealthy dwarven kingdom of Erebor and its relations with the human kingdom of Dale and the wood elves ruled by Thranduil (Lee Pace). The dwarves are ruled by Thror (Jeffrey Thomas), the King under the Mountain, and the neighboring leaders pay homage to Thror.Dwarves, elves, and men prosper. The caves under Erebor (a.k.a. the Lonely Mountain), rich in gold and jewels, are mined for an uncountable horde of wealth. The dwarves find the Arkenstone, their most valued jewel, which Thror displays above his throne. One day Thror's kingdom is attacked by a dragon, Smaug. Smaug destroys much of Dale and makes short work of Erebor's defenses, despite the brave and canny leadership of Thror's grandson Thorin (Richard Armitage). The surviving dwarves flee and Thorin is embittered when their erstwhile ally, the elven king Thranduil, declines to help them. (Previously Thror and his kin had refused to share diamonds mined from the mountain with the elves, which strained the alliance.)The dwarves attempt to reconquer Moria, a dwarven kingdom in the Misty Mountains that's been overrun by evil creatures called orcs. Led by a huge, pale orc called Azog (Manu Bennett), the orc armies repel the dwarves; in the battle, Azog beheads Thror. An enraged Thorin attacks Azog. Losing his shield early in the duel, Thorin uses an oak log to defend himself, earning the nickname "Oakenshield." He disables Azog by severing his arm, leaving him to be pulled away kicking and screaming by some retreating orc soldiers. Thorin's father Thrain is grief-stricken by the loss of his own father, Thror, and goes missing, never to be seen again. (Eventually, off screen, he's taken prisoner by the Necromancer.) Spurred on by the defeat of Azog, the dwarves manage to reclaim their land, albeit at the cost of the majority of their numbers. Thorin is left in charge of what remains of his grandfather's empire, but his people are too few to defend Moria or retake Erebor. With nowhere to go, the dwarves scatter to make their way in the world as miners, smiths, and toymakers.At this point Bilbo, having filled in the history leading up to his own appearance in the narrative, decides to tell his nephew Frodo (Elijah Wood) the whole story of his adventure 60 years earlier.One morning in the Shire, a much younger Bilbo (Martin Freeman) sits smoking outside his front door when along comes a tallish fellow -- not a hobbit -- in a pointed hat and grey cloak. He's the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), and he's looking to enlist the last member of an expedition that's ready to head off on a quest. Bilbo wants no part of any adventure, but Gandalf has other ideas. As Bilbo sits down to eat the next evening, he's interrupted by a visitor, an imposing dwarf called Dwalin (Graham McTavish) who acts as though he's expected. He wolfs down Bilbo's supper before more dwarves arrive -- Balin (Ken Stott), Bifur (William Kircher), Bofur (James Nesbitt), Bombur (Stephen Hunter), Fili (Dean O'Gorman), Kili (Aidan Turner), Oin (John Callen), Gloin (Peter Hambleton), Nori (Jed Brophy), Dori (Mark Hadlow), and Ori (Adam Brown) -- as well as Gandalf and eventually Thorin Oakenshield. Bilbo's finicky neatness is disrupted as they carry all the food out of the pantry, rearrange the furniture, and sing a silly song to tease the poor hobbit ("Chip the glasses and crack the plates! That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!") before settling down to the business they came to discuss: their quest.The dwarves plan to return to Erebor and reclaim their kingdom and their treasure from the dragon. A 13-member expedition invites bad luck, so they wish to hire a fourteenth member, a burglar -- and Gandalf assures them that Bilbo is a first-rate burglar, or will be when the time comes. Gandalf also says that Bilbo will present a slight advantage to the company when infiltrating Smaug's lair; Smaug is not familiar with the scent of a hobbit and Bilbo will be less detectable to the dragon. Their contract offers Bilbo a 1/14th share of any profits. When Bilbo wakes up in the morning the dwarves have all gone, and deep down he's disappointed he's lost the opportunity of finding an adventure, but he discovers that Thorin has signed the contract. All of a sudden, Bilbo decides to join the group; he catches up with them on the road and is given a pony to ride. His adventure has begun, although he's still set in his comfortable ways, and complains about the pony rub causing him a skin sore, and even tries to return to his hobbit-hole.Thorin and company travel east for some days until one evening, while puzzling over the disappearance of some of their ponies, Bilbo, Fili, and Kili (the two youngest dwarves) see firelight in the distance. They creep closer and discover three large trolls. Bilbo, as the "burglar," is pushed forward to rescue four ponies being kept in a corral. He sneaks in but is captured. The dwarves attack the trolls but are forced to surrender when the trolls threaten to rip Bilbo apart. Half the company are tied to a large rotating spit over the troll's fire, the other half are trapped in large sacks. Bilbo stalls for time by telling the trolls the dwarves are infected. Suddenly Gandalf appears, splits a boulder with his staff, and sunlight pours through the crack, turning the trolls to stone.Realizing that the trolls would have a cave to retreat to in the daytime, they search around and find the hidden lair. Gandalf and the dwarves find some good -- indeed, magical -- elven swords along with a small treasure trove. Gandalf gives the smallest of the swords (later called Sting) to Bilbo, saying it will glow blue when there are orcs and goblins around. The other swords are the famed Glamdring, which Gandalf takes for himself, and its mate, Orcrist, which Gandalf suggests Thorin keep. Thorin is reluctant to use an elven sword but Gandalf persuades him, saying such a fine weapon is a rare find.Later, one of the dwarves reports the ponies have all run off. Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy), the wizard who watches over the region, arrives in his rabbit-drawn sleigh. He tells Gandalf there is evil in the forest and in the old abandoned fortress of Dol Guldur. He recounts a fight with a spirit, the Witch King of Angmar, and gives Gandalf an object wrapped in cloth.The orcs arrive and Radagast, saying he will lead them away, takes off with his rabbit sleigh. The travelling party makes its way across a hilly open area while the orcs chase the brown wizard. However, one orc tracks them down and the fight draws the others. Gandalf leads them into a deep crevice in the rocks before the orcs are driven off by elvish horsemen.Travelling through the cave, the party comes out near Rivendell, home of Elrond (Hugo Weaving). Thorin, who still wants nothing to do with elves, angrily declares this was Gandalf's plan all along. Elrond appears with his riders and greets Gandalf and the dwarves warmly. Gandalf convinces Thorin to show Elrond the map. Elrond notices secret writing on the map that has to be read on the same calendar day during the same phase of the moon as when it was written, which luckily is that night. Blue letters glow on the map under the moonlight. Elrond translates the instructions on how to find the entrance to the Lonely Mountain. The dwarves must be in a certain spot on the mountainside on a certain day in late summer and the setting sun will show the door.Later, Gandalf meets with Saruman (Christopher Lee), Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), and Elrond. They discuss the mysterious Necromancer and some looming portents of evil. Saruman seems indifferent, saying that the evil spirit was vanquished centuries before and couldn't possibly gain enough power to return, much less materialize again. Gandalf produces the object wrapped in cloth that he received from Radagast: an evil sword, a Morgul blade, that was supposed to have been buried deep in a mountain. Galadriel silently promises aid to Gandalf when needed. Meanwhile, the dwarves and Bilbo continue their journey.Climbing a mountain, the party is caught in the midst of a battle as three stone giants come alive and start fighting each other. Bilbo and the dwarves take refuge in a cave. Thorin berates Bilbo again for having to save his life. That night, discouraged, Bilbo prepares to sneak away. Bofur tries to convince him to stay, but Bilbo still feels he isn't prepared for the life of adventure the dwarves are accustomed to. Suddenly, Bilbo's sword glows blue, the floor opens up and the party falls into a crevice and onto a wooden platform, where they are surrounded and taken prisoner by goblins.Bilbo slips away in the confusion but has to fight a lone goblin; the two fall further into the abyss. While the goblins take the dwarves to their king, the Great Goblin (Barry Humphries), Bilbo awakens to see Gollum (Andy Serkis) attacking and killing his unconscious goblin. Gollum drops a gold ring and Bilbo puts it in his pocket. A short time later, Gollum discovers the hobbit and alternately threatens and wheedles as Bilbo points his sword at him. They agree on a contest of riddles: if Bilbo wins, Gollum will show him the way out; if Bilbo loses, Gollum will eat him.Elsewhere in the goblin caves, the king notices the dwarves' swords and recoils from the sight of Orcrist, known to his people as "Goblin Cleaver." He orders the dwarves killed and sends a message to Azog, giving the location of the dwarves. As the goblins move in, there is a sudden white burst and everyone is stunned. Gandalf appears and urges the dwarves to run. They gather their swords and rush down the rickety wooden walkways that traverse the goblins' cavern in an exciting and physics-defying chase.Bilbo and Gollum trade wits and Bilbo has the final riddle; he asks Gollum what he has in his pocket. (It's Gollum's ring). Gollum is enraged (this isn't a standard riddle) and refuses to uphold the deal. Bilbo slips the ring on his finger and is surprised that he has become invisible to Gollum. Gandalf and the dwarves reach the bottom and run past Bilbo and Gollum to escape from the goblin caves. Bilbo has a chance to kill Gollum but relents and just jumps over him. Gollum is further enraged. Bilbo also escapes into the daylight, where the goblins can't immediately follow.The dwarves make it out to a wooded area and try to rest. Gandalf counts heads and notices Bilbo is missing. No one knows where he is and Thorin suspects he ran off -- he has long believed that Bilbo is not up to the task of the adventure and only longs to return to his home. Close by, and still invisible, Bilbo overhears Thorin. He suddenly appears and tells Thorin and his company that he does indeed wish to return home, but he will stay with the dwarves because they have no home of their own. Thorin still seems unimpressed, but the rest of the dwarves are relieved that Bilbo has rejoined them.Without warning, Azog and his warg-riders appear and chase the group to the edge of a cliff, where they all climb trees. But the snarling beasts cut the branches and topple the trees. Gandalf catches a moth, whispers to it, and releases it. When Azog appears on his white warg, Thorin is stunned to see him still alive. Gandalf hurls pine-cone fireballs at the enemy below, and soon the area is in flames and the animals retreat. Cornered, Thorin decides to attack and rushes toward Azog, but is knocked down and seemingly a meal for Azog's mount. Bilbo joins in the counterattack, saving Thorin from death. The other dwarves follow. The orcs are gaining the upper hand when a flock of huge eagles arrives and starts tossing the orcs off the cliff and carrying the dwarves away. (Gandalf sent the moth to get help.) Finally the last tree topples but Gandalf is saved by an eagle. The eagles carry the group to the Carrock, a smaller mountain in the middle of a river that offers them some safety. Thorin revives and is grateful to Bilbo. He apologizes for doubting him, saying he couldn't have been more wrong about Bilbo's bravery in battle. In the distance, Bilbo spots the Lonely Mountain and they all stare in awe, realizing they're that much closer to their home.A thrush flies toward the gates of the old dwarf redoubt and bangs on a nut. Inside, Smaug arouses from a pile of gold coins, opening one eye.

Tags: fantasy, boring, flashback, good versus evil, humor, storytelling

Review:
When I heard that there was to be a film version of The Hobbit, I was quite looking forward to it as the big finish of Lord of the Rings was still in my mind and, unlike LotR, I had actually read The Hobbit several times many years ago.
Whilst the LOTR trilogy had it's lighter moments, The Hobbit revels in the lighter side of life, with lots of genuinely hilarious moments interspersing themselves with scenes of real peril.The visually stunning moments are still there, and whilst I saw this movie in 2D, some moments would have been absolutely perfect in 3D.
At one point it felt like I was watching Labyrinth (1986) again, not like that's a bad thing but I didn't expect it here.It looks great, its scored near perfectly and as mentioned the cast do a great performance and it was nice to see the likes of James Nesbitt and Sylvester McCoy up on the big screen.Inevitably there was going to be comparison with LOTR, that was inescapable and the comparison just doesn't help it at all.
It pales in comparison and with all the silliness I found myself underwhelmed.The Hobbit is a passable effort but is more like the Mythica series than Lord Of The Rings.The Good: Beautiful Excellent score Brilliant cast The Bad: Some parts go beyond comedic into the realms of silly Martin Freeman just isn't leading man material Goblin town song, really?
While at first glance it may seem that he is travelling over familiar ground, again tackling the fantastical world of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth after his vast and Academy Award wining "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (2001 – 2003), he is actually experimenting with cinema itself.Of all the art forms of the world, film is the one most invested in technology; created by scientists, not artists at the end of the nineteenth century.
This is primarily a visual motion picture, but the characters are not ignored and the extensive opening sequence set in Bilbo's house serves as an introduction of sorts to not just the people but the themes as well.Jackson directs with huge scope and a true feeling for the vast land he is creating, shot on location in New Zealand.
The surround sound was rich and evocative of the caves and the music is lush and emotional.As for the main story, well, apart from doing a prelude that reprises the role of Frodo and older Bilbo Baggins, it pretty much stays true to the text - with some audience members anticipating what the characters were going to say next.A word of warning - some of the battle scenes are very intense, made more so by the 3D and high definition used along with the sound effects.
Much like he did with the previous trilogy, bringing us into a world full of heroes and villains, orcs and wizards this film literally (thanks to the 3D and FPS rate) literally transports you into Middle Earth.I am already excited to see the next instalment but to keep me satisfied until then..i may go and watch my LOTR boxset again .
I couldn't see any flaw in this movie at all, they do change the way some events happened, but they're details and don't really change the story, actually you can tell they were needed.Jackson also adds some information, but he did say beforehand that he would, and is taken from other Tolkien stories, and as I haven't read them, I was very happy with the change because they were things I didn't know.
So, while fans clamored for the Extended Cuts of Jackson's original trilogy a decade ago, eating up the scenes that couldn't make it into the three-hour theatrical cuts, there's not much excuse to turn "The Hobbit" into a trilogy of its own.The movie starts by bridging the gap between "The Hobbit" and LOTR by reintroducing Ian Holm as Bilbo Baggins.
Bilbo says he will now tell the story of his greatest adventure, and then spends several minutes relating the entire history of the dwarfs to the audience before finally picking up where Tolkien chose to start, "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." (Since the book was in third-person, and the movie adds a first-person narrator, the line now seems a little pretentious.) And then, instead of diving into the story, Elijah Wood wastes a few minutes of screen time with a completely unnecessary cameo as Frodo.
Instead of showing the same reverence to the source material that made Jackson's earlier trilogy so successful, here he ignores Tolkien's main plot and instead pads the movie with a subplot involving Radagast the Brown, a character taken from elsewhere in Tolkien's writings who has no place in "The Hobbit", and a Necromancer, and another one involving an albino orc pursuing the dwarf leader, in order to give the new trilogy a central antagonist.
There are some weak attempts at humor, but rather than Tolkien's wit, the biggest laughs come from unintentional comedy from the terrible acting and writing (disappointing, since one of the co-writers this time is Guillermo del Toro, who's better than this) behind lines like "After sickness, bad things happen" or "If there's a key, there's a door."Like the previous trilogy, most of the visuals are a cross between New Zealand landscapes and CGI special effects.
Considering they decided to tell the story through Bilbo's perspective, it's surprising that this is the one scene that really gives the title character a central role.At the risk of sounding like one of those snobs who always complains that the book is better, in the time it will take to watch what is sure to be a 9-hour trilogy, you could probably read Tolkien's entire book, and be much more entertained doing so..
Sorrow, because I am sorry that I wasted 3 hours of my life; anger, as I feel one of my favourite books has been desecrated; and disappointment, that now this film exists no- one will be given the further opportunity to actually do this book justice.It might be expected that this review would harp on that there is an unnecessary amount of padding, which is true, but not what I particularly want to comment on; in other reviews it has seemed to overshadow, what I believe, are other major issues this film has.Martin Freeman's portrayal of Bilbo Baggins left me feeling very bitter.
Every climax in those scenes ends with a deus ex machina subterfuge allowing our heroes to get away unharmed, no matter how ridiculous or insulting to the genre formerly known as Fantasy.The film is simply a vehicle showcasing the technical improvements in CGI, 3D and recording techniques (the doubled frame rate) which oddly enough makes the actual picture seem completely unconvincing.
The Hobbit Trilogy comes in at a massive 462 minutes for the theatrical cut and an even more bloated 532 minutes for the extended version.That's 9 hours of film for a book that barely hits 300 pages in length!All three movies suffer from the same problems - superfluous subplots, lack of ruthlessness in the editing room, cartoon battle scenes and chases with no real sense of any threat and sidelining Bilbo as the main protagonist.
The Hobbit is a relatively short book compared to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, so there was no reason to split it into three movies.Jackson left out the heart of the book, and instead got lost in the scenery and action scenes.
In a desperate attempt to make 3 movies out of a 200 pages booklet, Peter Jackson and his disturbing writers, after adding all the things to be inserted to lengthen the stock, have come to use eternal shots and endless pursuits in a land barren and sterile to fill this movie.Seriously, despite all the additions, there is so little to say that we have to spend 40 minutes watching movies about dwarfs who run, dwarfs that are hidden, dwarfs who eat: it seemed the Great Brother: Lord of the Rings edition.The proof of the actors is fair/low, costumes and special effects are decent, but not superb, while the dwarfs are dwarfs highest and most beautiful in the history of fantasy ...
Over this, the plot is so weak that it's a real trial to face the movie without failing to sleep.If you add that this ordeal lasts 3 hours (when many of the excellent fantasy of the 80s in 120 minutes told us all and more), you can well understand how anyone could give a resounding 4!I do not recommend seeing it, but if you want to embark, find something else to do during the movie (I know, ironing, a game on I-Pad, working on PC ...), otherwise you will feel like a thief took away 3 hours of your life.P.S. as always good Peter has not taken off some "enemy that crack like an idiot," to annihilate the little amount of credibility that the film could have maintained..
Rather, we're just spoon-fed it by the dialogue, and that just makes the tension, the conflict that follows, and the resolution to said conflict feel fake or artificial.Either way you look at it (on its own or in the shadow of the book), the movie just doesn't let you emotionally invest in it's lead character.
If there's one good thing that could come out of Jackson's film, it would be bringing this other version out of (very undeserved) obscurity.I don't know if the next movie will be better, but I do know that I probably won't bother seeing it..
A basically faithful-to-the-book rendition for old-fashioned types - like yours truly - who really only want its look and feel translated into visual format?A lavish family-friendly epic for casual admirers of the Tolkien 'franchise', with enough easy reference points to this 'back material' for the new 'product entry' to fit seamlessly into the whole?A 3-D Wide-Screen Tom-and-Jerry-cartoon-writ-large for the Video Game Generation, not overly concerned with plot, character, dialogue, coherence, dramatic tension, authenticity, or any other damn thing save 'awesome' special effects and bespoke cartoon violence?The sad answer: a mishmash of all the above.
Generic quest narrative; check, er, "Lord of the Rings".Examples of manipulation, all periodically evident throughout the film's entire run time, include: crude signposting of every plot twist; every being's inner feelings and motivations exaggerated and rammed home; every dangerous situation amplified beyond rhyme or reason into the completely absurd, thereby destroying rather than enhancing dramatic tension; totally generic 'stirring' fantasy soundtrack music unsubtly underpinning the action to further stupefy the senses.Allotting specific blame on the director, or script writers, or producers, or backers of this pumped-up product for its artistic failure is futile.
So many examples of this convenient departure from logic appear throughout the movie that even my ten year old would say: "Oh Come On!!!"There are so many unnecessary battle scenes that did nothing to aid the story and were just there to pad the film out.
But instead they've brushed over the entire meat of the story and twisted it until it resembles only in bones the original, and I think that's a shame, because the opportunity was there to bring the beauty of the book to life.Let us take, for example, the beginning, when the dwarfs arrive at Bag End believing that Bilbo is a burglar.
I am a big fan of LOTR and yet I did not like in fact I loved Fellowship of the ring so much more coz that gave me a reasoning and understanding of characters and a back story Here, we had a back story which I thought would be equally interesting as it is Peter Jackson at the helm, but it is rather tiring and however hard I tried, I just missed most of it.
Watched it last night again, for the first time since it came out and came to the same conclusions: way way way too long and there is way too much CGI, to the extent it distracts from the story.And as much as I adore the (extended versions of) LOTR movies and what was built from the books, I have to say with great regret that Peter Jackson completely missed the point here: It's a children's story about how a small Hobbit survives all kinds of adventures through his wit and cunning.
I know that if Jackson had followed the book (with some adaptation changes to keep the continuity with LOTR in check, like the Rivendell sequence) and made a two hour movie adaptation I would be very happy.
Or perhaps such an embellishment was necessary since the filmmakers were aware of the weakness of the character's relationships and dialogue.Its comparable to listening to AC/DC while watching a motionless gold fish in a bowl, the two just don't go together, but the rock n roll is trying to absorb you into the anti-climatic fish experience.That is kind of an exaggerated example, but you get my point.Also, some scenes and bits are taken straight from LOTR, which, while attempting to create a oneness of feel with the other films, instead comes off as almost forcing about recall and evinces a lack of originality and creativity.That is the general feel of the film, they are trying to cast it as being a story that is as epic as the LOTR, as high stakes as the LOTR, while it is obvious that the story just lacks that punch.
The first of three film adaptations of the classic children's book, it's grandiloquence will please the fanatics, but leave those on the fence feeling disappointed and potentially nauseous.After a boisterous battle prologue, An Unexpected Journey starts similarly to The Fellowship of the Ring: in the comfort of the Hobbit Shire with Frodo's uncle, Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm), sitting in his subterranean bachelor pad and eulogising his past.
Along the way, they get into scrapes with man-eating trolls, conniving goblins, maniacal orcs and intellectual elves (headed once again by Cate Blanchett's Galadriel).Early on in the film's hefty 169 minute running time, Gandalf turns to young Bilbo and suggests, 'every good story needs embellishment'.
Sir Ian McKellen is on fantastic form as the altruistic Gandalf, and Andy Serkis steals the show once again as the schizophrenic Gollum, who loses his 'precious' ring for the first time in a memorable cryptic showdown with Bilbo.In an attempt to make the special effects and props look as realistic as possible, the film is expensively shot at 48 frames per second, rather than the standard 24.
They shrank even more when I heard that instead of two films, there was going to be three.The original trilogy had a decent start with FotR, but TTT and RotK got lost in unnecessary plot changes, bad pacing, excessive CGI and the worst of Hollywood clichés.And to no surprise, Jackson picks up exactly where he stopped, making "The Hobbit" an excruciating feat that lacks any kind of depth and character development, and instead focuses on blatantly obvious CGI orcs, unnecessary and unrealistic (even for a fantasy universe) battle scenes and all the gimmicks modern cinema has to offer, to extract even more money from movie goers.Also, this film should not be called The Hobbit, because poor Bilbo gets lost in all the other stuff that Jackson put into the film.
However, watching the movie, you can't shake off the feeling that you're watching the Fellowship again, except with dwarfs.Adding insult to injury, Jackson not only neglects Bilbo, he also depicts his character in the wrong way and rushes its development, with quite alienating effects.The magic of the book is certainly lost then, and all we got is a worse copy of the FotR, with less interesting characters and more fighting, which had me ultimately bored and looking frequently at my watch for the second part of the movie, relieved when it was finally over..
If anything could displace the Lord of the Rings as my favorite film trilogy, I was certain that it would be The Hobbit; if for no other reason than I found Tolkien's The Hobbit is a far easier and funner read than LOTR, and I always knew that there would be moments that would make for excellent cinema.Despite the underwhelming reviews and reception, I found The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey satisfying; it met my expectations perfectly.
And I thought I'd thankfully seen the last of Elijah Wood as Frodo, whose performance for some reason makes me cringe; but here he is, shoehorned into this movie like so many other supernumerary characters.Maybe someday the BBC, or HBO, or Netflix, or some other creative organization will produce, say, a ten-part miniseries of The Hobbit and LOTR that will be true, or at least truer, to the plot, characterizations and dialogue than Peter Jackson.
While I loved Jackson's LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy, I'm sorry to say that he's fumbled - nay, dropped - the ball with this prequel, the first of a three-film adaptation of Tolkien's earlier children's book, THE HOBBIT.
All in all, I consider 48 fps to be an improvement over 24 fps (without diminishing the "cinematic" look of a film), but I didn't have the feeling I had witnessed a "revolutionary new cinema experience".***** CONCLUSION *****I didn't expect (or want) a replica of LOTR, but while "The Hobbit" isn't a bad movie, it isn't good either.
Juggling such a massive primary cast is obviously a challenge, and as such the film's best moments involve only one or two characters, with Bilbo's (Martin Freeman) meeting of Gollum (Andy Serkis) and the finding of the ring being a particular stand-out sequence, the only one that seemed like it could have used more time.However, all of the good work that Jackson & Co do with the direct source material is swamped by the content they felt they had to develop themselves.
At least half the dwarfs aren't' given enough actual acting time to create characters, which just makes the film even more cartoon-like.Overall, watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was about as much fun as watching someone play World of Warcraft.