Review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) by Mike K — 30 May 2015

With a story so vast and deep written long ago by the great J.R.R. Tolkien, how can it fail. Peter Jackson stays almost entirely true to the novel with some exaggerated moments and few left out. The characters are caricatures with bald caps, false noses, and enormous feet.

They sing and fight and feel making for an engrossing experience. Jackson is notorious for sacrificing continuity for beauty when it comes to his set pieces, so prepare your eyes for visual splendor. At times the pacing and music seem a tad formulaic.

The Hobbit is also a tad more lighthearted and accessible than the dark Lord of the Rings trilogy. An Unexpected Journey is flawed, but you'd have to be knit-picking because it is highly entertaining, well acted, visually pleasing, and very much like one would imagine a live action interpretation of the novel.