The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

I went from dreading this film at the beginning to being completely shocked I never looked at my watch or got up to go to the bathroom when the credits rolled. It hooked me in and the time flew by. I may have issues with some of the film but I put it on par with FOTR(which I feel is a bit overrated).

A-

BTW, I had no idea dwarves were made of rubber. Interesting.

[fishstick]

I removed CoS from memory so I don`t recall snot jokes. I don`t recall anything about that awful movie save sepia sequence with Tom Riddle.

Edited December 16, 2012 by fishnets

[Plain Old Tele]

Adim, you should be happy the talking purse didn't make it in.

[Goffe]

I really like LOTR, but I went with low expectations, because the marketing for this was underwhelming at best and split a small book into 3 movie not helped either.This is LOTR without the epicness and more family oriented.contrary to what you may think, the movie is action-packed and very emotional (I never thought I'd feel sorry for smeagol), dwarfs were great and the climax was just great. Some silly/cliche moments, but that's about it. I want The Hobbit 2 so much right now B+/A-

Edited December 16, 2012 by Goffe of Oz

[Goffe]

I went from dreading this film at the beginning to being completely shocked I never looked at my watch or got up to go to the bathroom when the credits rolled. It hooked me in and the time flew by

When ended, the audience was like "awwwwhhhhhh, we want more damit"

[Gopher]

This is what I don't get about people complaining about the opening act with the chilling at Bilbo's house. If the exact same set of scenes (no changes at all) had been part of say a Quentin Tarantino film, or a dialogue/writing-driven film in general, film critics and internet reviewers would be totally on-board with it and praise it. But since it's part of a fantasy adventure, they groan and moan and bitch about the film not getting to the "action."

If the dialogue was half as clever or interesting or giving of worthy character or plot moments like Tarantino dialogue, then I would like it as well. The crap at the beginning of this film would be boring in any movie.

[4815162342]

And it's easy for you to say that now, but you underestimate the effect of names, genre, and format on audiences and reviewers as regards to their expectations and how they perceive something. If The Hobbit wasn't The Hobbit, the dinner scenes and first act exposition bits would not have been as nearly divisive for a number of critics as they turned out to be.

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

What's really dividing critics is HFR, which apparently more top critics have access to than the "rest".No HFR = more likely to be able to enjoy the film.And, yes, my "podunk" little town did not have it, and, even though I went in expecting bloat, shockingly enough I enjoyed myself.

[friendofnarnia]

I wonder if they will be letting critics review DOS in HFR as well?

[The Dark Rock]

Really liked it...surprised that some people are finding it slow but I was never bored and found it thoroughly engaging and entertaining. I will rate it 8/10

[CJohn]

Loved the movie. Can't believe it was 3 hours. All my friends also loved it.One question: this was the only time we see Gollum, right?

[Heretic]

I really liked it, and I too was never bored, despite the length. I'll admit, there are some scenes that were rather unnecessary and could have been cut out, but I didn't mind they were there. The whole shire scene in the beginning was actually entertaining, and it was good to get a little introduction on the characters without getting straight to the meat of the story.

The riddle's scene was by far my favourite. Gollum absolutely owned the movie with the little part he had in the last quarter. In general though, I thought the vast majority of characters were excellent, namely Gandalf, ofcourse, and Martin Freeman as Bilbo. I wasn't always so keen on him, but his characterisation is just how I hoped it'd be.

I was surprised at the amount of action, actually. I wasn't expecting so much, and it was all extremely well done. Especially the wolf attack and the mine scenes.

Probably the most impressive thins about the movie though was how utterly BEAUTIFUL it was. My god, the special effects were stunning, the cinematography was gorgeous, and the landscapes and colours were absolutely breathtaking. I wouldn't be surprised if it won some technical awards at the Oscars, but even if it doesn't, it'll definitely get nominated.

And the score. I loved it. The misty mountains theme plays prominently throughout, and it had that same 'epic' feel to the main theme in LOTR. I did thoroughly enjoy hearing snippets of that score incorporated into this one too.

Overall, very entertaining, and the ending really has made me excited for The Desolation of Smaug next year. This trilogy has a great deal of potential.

A-

[Heretic]

Also, Gollum was freaking hilarious! He got laugh out loud reactions.

[Goffe]

The special effects weren't perfect, the eagles, the dragon's tail in the prologue and the wolfs are examples of AWFUL CG

[IndustriousAngel]

One question: this was the only time we see Gollum, right?

In the book, yes. In the film?We know that Gollum left his cave and went hunting for Baggins, finally getting captured by Sauron's minions somewhere farther south. What we don't know is where he went before that and when he left his cave. So there's the possibility that we see him following Thorin&Co, but I wouldn't count on it.

[CJohn]

Shame. Probably has been the last time we have seen Gollum in a theater.

[Rovex]

Seen it 3 times now, and at no point was i bored.

Having seen the reviews I was expecting the first act to be really really slow and boring. It wasnt. If you disliked the Shire scenes there is seriously something wrong. Sure it could be trimmed a little, but it was entertaining, it wasnt full of fart jokes and the Dwarfs personalities were established as well as 12 characters can be in the given time.

At times the movie seemed a little rushed, not slow and once outside the shire the action was non stop. It was considerably more tense and dark than I was expecting. I didn't get a sense that there was little at stake.

Having not read the book before seeing the film i didnt know what was 'bloat' and what wasnt. It all seemed to fit fine and little was pointless. The Stone Giants scene was a bit random and if anything i would have liked the pace slowed a little around that.

Gollum was fantastic. He seemed smart and confident, unlike in LOTR, and was very much more threatening. None of the characters annoyed me, even Galadriel wasnt as smug and irritating as she was in LOTR!

The CG, the score, the cinematography was all lovely, it was just beautiful to look at, so even when the pace was slower it still entertained. It seemed shorter than its run time to me, that alone proves to me that the critics are completely wrong about it.

A+

[CJohn]

One amazing thing was the reaction of the crowd to the appearance of Gollum. It is like people paid to see him.

[Rovex]

Absolutely, there was a small cheer in all 3 of my viewings for him.Since the Critics keep on mentioning TPM ill contrast it with my cinema experience of the 2. When i saw the Hobbit people seemed nervous and quiet at the start, i guess the reviews dampened expectations, but as it went on the excitement built up, cheers for Gollum, cheers and claps at the end. When i saw TPM there was a huge cheer at the start when the iconic text scroll started, by the end people were quiet, no clapping, one or two people seriously pissed by it.I think a number of critics simply didnt want to like this movie or had invested so much in it before they had seen it that anything they saw would have disappointed them.

[Impact]

Gollum was awesome. People loved him.