Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
The Best Lord of the Rings Film to Date
JLFM - wrote on 12/15/2012
Note: I saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in the standard 2-D 24fps format, rather than the 3-D or 48fps format.
You've likely heard of the surprising critical reaction to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit. While the reviews have not been negative, they've been very mixed, and they're certainly not garnering the critical success of the first three films. If the mixed reaction from critics is keeping you from seeing The Hobbit, ignore what they say. The Hobbit tops all three of it's predecessors, and provides an engaging and entertaining experience for Tolkien fans and newcomers.
For those unfamiliar with the plot; here goes. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is an adaption of the first 100 pages of J.R.R. Tolkien's book (The Hobbit). Bilbo Baggins, a …
Rating of
3/4
Review - The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
MikePA - wrote on 12/15/2012
Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a visually spectacular experience, jam-packed with tons of action and adventure. While it doesn't have as much clarity as the Lord of the Rings films, it's still a totally solid epic.
Like many of Peter Jackson's films, there are moments of greatness and moments of tediousness and boredom, notably in the first hour of the film. This leads me to the central problem with the movie - poor narrative structure. Jackson decides to stretch many of the sequences that play very little part in the rest of the movie. I remember saying to myself, "alright come on, let's get going," a couple times. Jackson and the script put a lot of depth in Bilbo and the leader of the thirteen dwarves, Thorin, but the supporting characters (mainly the rest of …
Rating of
3/4
This Journey Feels a Bit Familiar
Chris Kavan - wrote on 12/15/2012
I was surprised at just how much The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey linked up with Fellowship of the Rings. Like the original movie, both films open on a history lesson: in Fellowship, it was the war vs. Sauron and how the one ring fell to man (and was soon after lost) only to land in the hands of a hobbit.... In The Hobbit, we see the great Dwarven kingdom of Erebor and the town Dale prosper until greed, and the arrival of a very angry dragon named Smaug, cause the kingdom to fall and people to scatter...
Both films feature the cross-country trip of a group of companions: The Fellowship of the Rings has it's, well, fellowship and Hobbit has 13 Dwaves, the Wizard Gandalf and the reluctant Hobbit Bilbo Baggins. Both groups face numerous threats and battles along the way - both groups …
