Published originally at WhatCulture…
INTRODUCTION
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey- the first installment in The Hobbit trilogy which marks Academy Award winning director Peter Jackson’s long awaited return to Middle-earth- has been open to the public for scarcely less than a week, but with the review embargo having long ago been lifted a critical consensus is beginning to take shape around Jackson’s latest spellbinder.
Official reviews have so far largely spanned the divide of positive to mixed, with An Unexpected Journey garnering aggregated scores of 65% on Rotten Tomatoes and 58% on Metacritic at the time of this article’s publication, though fan reception has generally tended towards the positive.
Often the criticisms I’ve seen directed at the movie by detractors are ironically focused on the same areas as those who love the movie- length and depth in comparison to the book, use of CGI, tone, and a hefty and portentous prologue. In this article I would like to tell you why this epic tale of dwarves, goblins, wizards, elves and hobbits is by far my favourite movie of 2012- a rare blend of exceptional acting, breath-taking special effects and sublime storytelling that had me mesmerised for every one of its 166 minutes.
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Great stuff. Totally agree!
Great review.
I really enjoyed this. A lot of the Tolkien fans over on TheOneRing.net really appreciated this review. Plus- you clearly know your Tolkien sources very well!
Excellent review, as always! Good luck in 2013! And well done on the ‘article of the year’ award!
Echoes how I feel about this movie almost entirely. Well written and shows your knowledge of Tolkien. Keep up the good work.
Thanks all!