Review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) by Anthony N — 26 Dec 2014

The Hobbit was certainly an unexpected pleasure.

After reading heaps of negative reviews for this film, I was expecting to be SERIOUSLY disappointed. The pace was criticized, as was the plot, characters, tone, humor, and so on. I went into it with the lowest expectations I could muster, and I was ready to criticize this movie into oblivion.

From the moment the movie began, I was back in Middle-earth again. I was back in the Shire with Frodo and Bilbo, back in the lands of Mordor with Sauron and the ring. I was back. The tone, the music, the script, it was all just as majestic as ever. Peter Jackson has certainly not lost his touch when it comes to making movies about Middle-earth.

Pros:

-- It's the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Only, new. What more can you want??

-- Peter Jackson seems to have learned some new tricks when it comes to directing action sequences. There were quite a few that left me smiling and wide-eyed.

-- Martin Freeman is absolutely phenomenal in his role. He is incredibly charismatic and quirky, and he is just a joy to watch.

-- The 3-D, for once, is used to great effect. I usually am not a fan of 3-D, but I really enjoyed this! Objects fly out of the screen at times, and the depth actually enhanced the experience. (I wish I had gotten the privilege to see this movie in the new 48fps-format, and I am hoping to see that in the future. If I do, I'll post my thoughts on that here as well).

-- I thought it was very, very well paced. If you were able to sit through Fellowship of the Ring without feeling bored, then there is no reason you shouldn't be able to sit through this.

-- There's more Gandalf. And, he's even cooler than before . . . somehow . . .

-- It is very funny. Funnier than most all of the original movies, I think.

-- Visually astounding. The effects have improved immensely from the previous films.

-- Audio is crazy good, as you would expect from a Peter Jackson film.

-- Gollum. Yes, Gollum. I will say no more.

-- The movie ends in a way that is not only satisfying, but also leaves you craving more.

Cons:

-- I would have trimmed about 5-10 minutes of the Shire. It's not so much that it's boring that it's unmemorable. I was entertained, but it wasn't as inspired as the rest of the film.

-- There is one silly, 30-second sequence towards the end where the gang find themselves in one of those predicaments that goes just a LITTLE BIT too conveniently. That's actually a euphemism. It's far too convenient. It's really silly.

-- Rataghast was annoying and overplayed.

-- Although the effects were great, way too much CGI was used.

The movie's wonderful. In my book, it's a 9/10.

I love it. Go see it.