We return to Peter Jackson’s vivid imagining of Middle Earth with the first installation of the Hobbit Trilogy. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, has all of the beauty and majesty of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy with all of its darkness subdued and distant. As it should, The Hobbit is a fun picture with greater potential for comedy than it’s predecessors. This is an age of adventure and innocence, whose evil, though intimidating, is not yet on the apocalyptic level yet.
The Hobbit’s greatest strength lays in the painstaking detail, and loving care that is put into constructing the universe of middle earth. As much detail if not more went into creating a younger version of this fantasy world. I know a great deal of criticism has been lobbied against the use of 48 frames per second in filming. None of it removed the me from the film’s immersion. In fact the visuals were stunning and vibrant. The opening sequence showing the kingdom of the Dwarves in its hay day was fanciful and unique when compared to the other realms of middle earth. Martin Freeman makes a good Bilbo Baggins fitting in seamlessly with Ian Holm’s older interpretation of the character. The character’s timid origins is the perfect contrast to his bombastic adventurous later self. When stacked against Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit is an good prequel. There are enough connections to the original series without getting lost in homages. The Hobbit is a good film however it is not without it’s flaws. At times the Hobbit suffers from pacing problems. New Zealand is a beautiful country but during the first half of the movie the slow panning shots of the countryside devour screen time. The intention is to convey the theme of the heroic journey, and portray elapsed time. There’s plenty of story to tell. The film doesn’t need to be dragged out by what should be saved for New Zealand tourism commercials.
I enjoyed the Hobbit. Despite its slow pace it lived up to the high standard set by the Lord of the Rings franchise and I am looking forward to The Desolation of Smaug.
On a Scale of 1 to Epic (Epic = 10): 
