Review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) by James Z — 08 Apr 2018

Peter Jackson brought his well-tried-and-tested Lord of the Rings model to this tale at the beginning of the Hobbit series, and to good effect. The acting is generally strong, the computer-generated graphics set the standard, and New Zealand continues to take one's breath away.

I had wondered whether dividing the Hobbit tale into three parts was truly necessary, but Tolkein's work bears the extended treatment. The screenplay suffers, however, from some hackneyed anachronisms, as, for example, when characters say, "Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

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