The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey NR #33

Now, don't kill me, but I've only seen "Fellowship of the Ring"... Well, that wasn't that bad. I was expecting something bad to hap- *glass crashes*. Ah, there's the flaming bag, I was wondering where it was. Anyway, even though I'm not familiar with Tolken or Lord of the Rings, I was still extremely excited for this film. Is it still worth the hype, and does it really need three parts? I don't know...Okay, well I do, but you need to read to find out. Read what? Why my review of...

PLOT
Our story takes place in the land of Middle Earth, 60 years before the events of Frodo and the one ring. This is Bilbo Baggin's story. Bilbo is a simple Hobbit, living a life of peace and serenity. Until one night when 12 dwarves and a wizard invade his home. These uninvited guest are here because Gandolf, the wizard, has chosen Bilbo to be the 14th member of their company as their thief. Now, why do these dwarves need a thief? Well, they are after their stolen treasure and city which has been taken by the fiercest dragon in all the land, Smog. Bilbo is reluctant at first, but is talked into joining their guest for redemption. Bilbo now starts on the greatest adventure.


PROS
This film captures the book's style perfectly. It has a sort of child like wonderment that only Tolken and Peter Jackson can pull off.

The actors are all amazing, including the Dwarves who all seem distinctive. The stand-out, once again, being Andy Circus reprising his role as Golem. This proves, for 5th time in a row, that Andy Circus needs an Oscar. He's one of the greatest unrecognized actors in history and more than deserves and award.

The action set pieces are awesome. They're shot extremely well and choreographed even better. They're very exciting and fun to watch.

The humor, surprising, is genuinely hilarious. I had many moments where I was laughing very hard for a long time. I was afraid the film's comedy would be tired, but it never became that.

A personal pro: The greatest scene I've seen this year is the riddle battle between Golem and Bilbo. That was the one moment I was excited for, and Jackson delivered in spades. It's just so awesome and well done, it's worth the price of admission just for that.



CONS
Now if you haven't heard, this story is going to be turned into 3 parts, this being part 1. The point of putting this into three parts is so that they can connect it to "The Fellowship of the Ring". Because of this, there are some scenes that feel out of place. It doesn't ruin the movie, but it does feel like padding.



CONCLUSION
Just to clear something up, the screening I went to wasn't shown in the increased frames per second that everyone is complaining about, that's why I have yet to mention it. Anyway, this was everything I was hoping for and more. It's funny, action-packed, dark, light-hearted and engaging. The film is almost 3 hours long, yet by the end I was ready for another 2. This is a must see and a great way to begin this trilogy.



RATING
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