Movie Review: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy is misguided, but not on its own terms terrible. There clearly isn’t enough story here to stretch out into three movies, and that’s definitely clear when this movie goes into an extended flashback that establishes Thorin’s (Richard Armitage) rivalry with the Pale Orc.

I will say, though, there’s a dramatic difference in visual style from this film and the Lord of the Rings films from a decade before. This movie feels much more artificial, whereas there was a better blending of practical and CGI effects in the Lord of the Rings. Here, it just doesn’t look as good.

But as for the movie not being terrible, this movie has a few really good things going for it, most notably the casting and acting. Martin Freeman (TV’s Sherlock) is perfectly cast as Bilbo, and gives a great performance. It’s almost like imagining Woody Allen in a big fantasy action movie, as he’s very awkward and largely useless (though he does have a nice arc in this movie), and that’s exactly the way a Hobbit not predisposed to adventure should be. Everyone else is pretty well cast, too, with James Nesbitt (Waking Ned Devine) standing out as my favorite Dwarf: Bofur.

The direction is also solid, of course. The scene with Bilbo and Gollum stands out in particular as being the best scene of this movie, and one of the best scenes of any of these movies.

This movie has more than its share of problems, from some of the visuals, to the mix of tones, to the running length, but overall it’s a fairly enjoyable experience. It’s definitely a disappointment in regards to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but if you don’t have super high expectations, you should be okay with it.

Rating: 6/10