Rating of
2.5/4
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 01/05/13
The only characters worth investing your time on are Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) and Thorin Oakenshield. This reviewer feels the picture suffers due to its length (trying to rush the characters or just plain overwriting), overloaded action sequences (wish in this raters opinion was missing from Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring)/characters, emphasis on visual effects rather than appropriate plot points and the sluggish pace in most scenes. On the positives: the score, certain camera direction, cinematography and screenplay were effective. Some nice quotes: Thorin - "Loyalty, honor, a willing heart, I can ask for no more than that." Gandalf - "It's the little things that are important! Love or an act of kindness that are the things that keep darkness at bay." and "The world isn't in your books and maps! Its out there." Overall, it tried too hard to be an epic film for its genre and tries to emulate the formula from the Lord of the Rings franchise instead of having its own identity. It has potential thanks to the brilliance of Freeman and McKellan.
