The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Review

Peter Jackson Returns to the Shire in the New Hobbit Trilogy.

I have to admit that I am not a big fan of "Lord of the Rings”. They are good movies, but not the masterpieces that fans claim it to be. They just never resonated with me. Maybe I am bias because I really do not care for the fantasy genre, with the exception of the Harry Potter films. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is epic, but the long running times for each movie is brutal, and there are so many characters that I couldn’t care less about. The films are still well made, and the actors fit the roles perfectly. For example, Andy Serkis’ portrayal of Gollum in The Two Towers has to be one of the biggest Oscar snubs of all time.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is about a Hobbit named Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is swept into a quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch). Bilbo is approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellan), who thinks he will be useful on the journey. Bilbo also finds himself joining 13 dwarfs led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). Throughout their journey they walk through the forests, walk up the mountains, walk through the tunnels, and walk through other places. Seriously though, they do encounter many deadly creatures like goblins, orcs, giant spiders, shapeshifters, and sorcerers. Eventually, the group gets separated and must escape the goblins' tunnels. While separated from the group, Bilbo meets Gollum (Andy Serkis), a creature that will change his life forever. In the process he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected powers.

I have to say that I mildly enjoyed the film. The cinematography is amazing, and the Middle Earth world is just as spectacular as it is in the Lord of the Rings movies. The landscapes are breathtakingly beautiful, and it almost makes the audience want to travel to New Zealand to see these amazing sights. Martin Freeman does a great job as Bilbo Baggins,and Ian McKellan does another wonderful performance as Gandalf the Grey. Nevertheless, Gollum steals the show despite him being in the movie for about 20 minutes. In this movie he is a bit scarier as he has a taste for human flesh in this film.

However, the main problem with the film is the pacing. This film drags for about the first hour, and 13 dwarfs are introduced in this period of time. To be perfectly honest, I could not keep up with all of these characters. Of course it is always a challenge to make the audience care about them. They are not fully developed, and I could not tell one dwarf from the other. The movie picks up in the third act, but it takes forever to get there.

Peter Jackson tries to stretch out the story for as long as possible to make "The Hobbit” last for three hours. This is a mistake as the next two parts are going to drag also, we actually get to see the group encounter Smaug the dragon in the next film. So it should be somewhat more entertaining. Nevertheless, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has its moments, but it is ultimately a journey I will not be going on again.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - 3/5