very clever, and the whole introduction before the journey is almost exactly like the book, which I enjoyed very much. The fights scenes, just exactly as LOTR are INCREDIBLE,very well done, and with some funny moments as well. The cast is flawless, I think every actor portrays their character to perfection, I was happy with all the acting choices. The part of the book they picked to end the movie was great, the book though is basically divided into three main events, so it was somewhat predictable, but the scene they made to end the movie was perfect!!. So Basically if you're a Tolkien fan, or just LOTR-Hobbit fan you'll be puking rainbows of epicness throughout the movie.I had the luck to go to the premiere, but i'm obviously gonna go watch it again on IMAX.

detailed well, it is a movie, so that's normal . This movie is not enough to understand everything behind The Hobbit and the story behind it, but it does give a nice illustrative try to simplify things.

a movie but that is absolutely not the case. Through sheer skill and artistry of movie storytelling, the plot feels absolutely epic and grand. While perhaps there is less at stake on middle earth than in "Lord of the Rings", there are more dimensions to the characters: doubt, guilt, frailty and a little extra space for humor and wit, which all paints a more colorful story.At every turn, middle earth brims with overflowing wonder, magic and excitement. The technical wizardry and artistry to create the breath-taking visuals and actions are indescribably amazing and everything is given an extra little more than last time around for us to soak in the intricate details and designs. The dwarf city inside the mountain with its blustering industriousness and craftsmanship, the serene Rivendale, the rickety goblin kingdom all are presented with so much more substance and detail that even though they resemble previous "Lord of the Rings" set-pieces, they feel completely new and refreshing. The technical prowess and skills of the visual effects department have gotten so much better and that indescribable feeling of awe I felt we had when I first experienced "Lord of the Rings" set pieces like Moria and Gondor is still evoked watching these new set pieces. Plus, they have also vastly improved their handling of differences in heights of the characters and the interactions feel more natural and fluid. Everything feels like it has multiple layers and depth: from Bilbo's house and pantry to the dwarf and goblin kingdoms to all the skirmishes and battles. Middle earth as is presented here is as close to the perfect fantasy backdrop as it gets.The new cast seamlessly blend into the middle earth world. Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Richard Armitage as Thorin make the characters their own. Freeman's initial bumbling English demeanor and then the growth to an adventurer is skillfully done. Armitage wonderfully projects royalty and authority while still being constrained of being a dwarf. Ian McKellen's return as the wizard Gandalf is a more playful and comedic return while Andy Serkis's Gollum is more vicious and expressive than I remember him to be this possibly is also due to some animation improvements in Gollum as well . The rest of the dwarf company are too many to keep track of individually but as a group they provide for the expected dwarfian physical humor but also the gravity when needed of a people who have lost their home. This generation of middle earthians are all around as wonderful a group to get to know as the generation from the "Lord of the Rings" movies."The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is simply amazing and is one the best movies ever made. With great storytelling, amazing visuals and very skillful acting, the movie grips you in a multiple of levels and never lets go. It is a movie to be seen as soon as humanly possible.

appeal.Martin Freeman is a revelation. Knowing him from The Office I lived in the UK for a while it hardly seemed plausible that he could carry off such a role, but he is very believable. The merry band of dwarfs are well played and you somehow get to know each of them by the end of the film. The special effects are, well, special. We were ducking as rocks and boulders came flying out at us and I swear there was a bird floating over our heads at one point. The surround sound was rich and evocative of the caves and the music is lush and emotional.As for the main story, well, apart from doing a prelude that reprises the role of Frodo and older Bilbo Baggins, it pretty much stays true to the text - with some audience members anticipating what the characters were going to say next.A word of warning - some of the battle scenes are very intense, made more so by the 3D and high definition used along with the sound effects. You may want to think long and hard about taking young kids to it.But for everyone else, particularly the young at heart, this first installment of The Hobbit is a gem. note: I was very fortunate to see The Hobbit in Wellington last week. I was there on business and through a friend of a friend I landed a ticket. I was in in Cinema 1 of the Reading Cinemas - one of the two cinemas that premiered the film last Wednesday.

won't comment on this more . I also wasn't expecting to like the 48 fps since I'm the kind of guy who squints even at high definition TVs, but surprisingly, I thought it looked great in The Hobbit, and I think 48 fps is the future. There are slow moments in The Hobbit, broken regularly by excitingly over the top action scenes. Again, just like LOTR - so I don't see why one would like the original trilogy and not The Hobbit.The Hobbit is perhaps a little less dark in tone than LOTR, considering the source material which is more of a children's book, but it's clearly not a children's movie anyway, and displays many exciting and stressful moments. It also offers something more than the LOTR, that is five genuinely important villains right then and there. The dragon Smaug, in this first film, is like Sauron in the LOTR. A distant, mysterious figure who is the ultimate goal of the quest, whom we don't see much of yet, but we know it's going to be brutal. The "necromancer" is mostly alluded. Those who know the book will know who that is, and he'll surely be important in the sequels. Azog, the giant orc, is a main villain and is much more appealing than the Uruk-hai chief in Fellowship of the Ring, or any other orc villain in the LOTR series. The Goblin King also has a strong key role in the movie. And of course, Gollum, who's riddle scene with Bilbo is fantastic.Martin Freeman as Bilbo is superb and there couldn't be a better choice. The rest of the cast is pitch perfect as well. While the 13 dwarfs are too many for us to get to know each and every one of them well enough by the end of this first movie, I didn't feel it was a downer. We got to know at least a third sufficiently - and I'm sure we'll get to learn about and appreciate the rest in the subsequent films - this allows us to still have characters to discover later on.Anyway, great film. I think it's better than Fellowship, and I'll be seeing it again for sure and can't wait for the sequels.

worth it in 3D. It's a beautiful, stunning film that feels right in line with the earlier Lord of the Rings movies, even though it's set 60 years earlier and derives from what's best described as a children's book.Bilbo Martin Freeman is a hobbit. Hobbits are smaller than you and me. Well, you, anyway. They're short. They live simple lives, and they love it. Theirs is an agrarian society. No magic, no oddities, and above all no adventures. And such is the case with Mr. Baggins, who lives in a home called Bag's End in an area known as The Shire. He is content. Until the mysterious wizard Gandalf Ian McKellan appears suddenly, as is his wont, and offers Bilbo a chance at a grand adventure indeed. It involves several dwarfs who wish to trek back to their homeland, which has been usurped by a huge dragon named Smaug, and reclaim it as their own. I know, it sounds simple and that Bilbo might be slumming by tagging along, but off he goes anyway. Reluctantly.Now, please bear in mind that, like the LOTR movies, this is just the first of three films. The entire Hobbit story isn't told. That means we spend more time in certain areas than we might have if the book had been filmed in one shot. The unsightly squad, with their faux burglar Bilbo run into comical stone giants and put on a rotating spit, then beset by orcs and goblins, and then at some point, deep within the goblins' mountain, Bilbo runs into a familiar to us face: Gollum, nee' Smeagol, the keeper of the One Ring. Much of the movie, with New Zealand stepping in admirably again for Middle-Earth, involves the troupe running from things. Running across fields, down into caves, through caverns, across more fields, up and down mountains, and so on. Lots of running. Considering most of these dwarfs are built like beer kegs and not Kenyan runners, I'm kind of surprised none of them suffer a cardiac arrest or two. But again, digression.And much of the plot, aside from the standard journey to a faraway land, involves the development of Bilbo as, well, a man. Hobbit, whatever. He's meek and mild, but he finds his courage, several times over, through the course of just this film. The gleaming sword given to him by Gandalf helps a mite, too. But still! Cunning and courage and whatnot from a lowly hobbit! Literally lowly. You will see some familiar faces. Let's just say that Rivendell is on the way, just as it was/will be in the first LOTR movie. There takes place a debate about whether the dwarfs, led by the great Thorin Oakenshield, really should be doing what they're doing. Saruman the White is pretty set against it, but Lady Galadriel seems to trust Gandalf more than anyone. And so our dwarfs run from place to place, lopping off orc heads as they go. It's pretty neat.Is this a movie for kids, though? It's based on a kids-like book that's much lighter than the LOTR stuff to follow. And it is PG-13, of course. But it's not a family film in the sense that, oh, The Polar Express is. It can be scary at times, and the 3D - well used - heightens that. The dwarfs are great comic relief, but they don't dull the edge of a quick- paced, very well shot film. The youngest shouldn't be in the theater, but it's suitable for the tweens and above. With plenty of great action for the rest of us, too.

sized introduction with Ian Holm and Elijah Wood making way for the current storyline. The first thing you notice as a viewer is that this movie is notably funnier. Whilst the LOTR trilogy had it's lighter moments, The Hobbit revels in the lighter side of life, with lots of genuinely hilarious moments interspersing themselves with scenes of real peril.The visually stunning moments are still there, and whilst I saw this movie in 2D, some moments would have been absolutely perfect in 3D. At first, it's a little difficult to get into, especially when the light-hearted opening with the countless visiting dwarfs gets underway. However, if you can remind yourself as a viewer that The Hobbit was a book written for a much younger, impressionable audience, then you'll likely have a good time watching this. That said, it is far from childish, and although it is a lighter, more fun affair, there are still many parts within the story that an adult audience can relate to.Martin Freeman has been a firm favourite of mine since his humble beginnings on British terrestrial television, and seeing him here on the big screen is both a welcome and bizarre experience. That said, his demeanour and technique are perfect for the role of Bilbo Baggins, as he exudes the homely, simple manner of a Hobbit very effectively. Ian McKellen is perfect as everyone's favourite wizard, and Richard Armitage another former British television star playing his trade to the silver screen is a brilliant Thorin son of Thrain! , mixing a toughened heart with a tortured soul. If anything, Thorin may turn out to be the true hero of the piece. The rest of the dwarfs are also brilliant, and many of them are the highlights of the movie.The special effects are once again spectacular, with the eye wateringly stunning rock giant battle a particularly memorable moment. The makeup effects are up to the job, too, and the attention to detail is ridiculous, right down to the individual scratches and weathered look of the weapons the characters wield. If you enjoyed the LOTR trilogy, then Peter Jackson will have you in awe again, although The Hobbit trilogy looks set to be a much more relaxed and 'fun' adventure. At the end of the day, the only complain to be made about the movie is that it simply isn't LOTR. Those movies set such a high level that even Peter Jackson himself can't seem to top them with this effort, but that's a minor complain for what is otherwise I very well made movie.Cinematic, adventurous, enjoyable and epic- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey knows its audience and caters to them very well indeed.

movie in 3D and at the 48fps that Jackson intended and I was blown away by how it looked. It's a stunning film that left me with the same 'WOW' factor that the original trilogy did a decade ago. Set 60 years earlier than Lord of The Rings, We are introduced to a much younger Bilbo Baggins Martin Freeman . He is a content Hobbit, not concerned with adventure of any sort. Until Gandalf Ian McKellan suddenly appears, along with a group of unruly Dwarfs and offers Bilbo the chance to be part of a great adventure. The dwarfs wish to reclaim their homeland, which has been taken over by a huge dragon named Smaug, It's a simple concept and one that probably shouldn't be stretched over 3 movies but as with any 'first in a trilogy' film, it sets the stage perfectly. The movie has some great scenes.. meeting the Dwarfs in Bilbo's house, the run in with fighting stone giants and the escape from deep within the goblins' mountain are particular highlights. I loved the scene in which Bilbo runs into a familiar face for LOTR fans in the caves: Gollum who looks amazing with todays MOCAP technology . Much of the movie, is the journey of the troupe back to the mountain, but also the journey of Bilbo himself.. mild and timid at the start of the film, our hero finds his courage, several times over, through the course of this film. Overall I loved this film, I thought it looked fantastic and the care of attention not just aesthetically but also in terms of continuity were obvious. These are Peter Jacksons films, no doubt. Much like he did with the previous trilogy, bringing us into a world full of heroes and villains, orcs and wizards this film literally thanks to the 3D and FPS rate literally transports you into Middle Earth.I am already excited to see the next instalment but to keep me satisfied until then..i may go and watch my LOTR boxset again . And them maybe this film again!Great stuff!!

lost magic ring."The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" is the beginning of another trilogy by Peter Jackson based on the novel "The Hobbit", by J.R.R. Tolkien. The plot is developed in slow pace with the visible intention of producing three great box offices, and there are long sequences that should have been edited. Anyway the movie is entertaining and the stunning CGI is impressive. My vote is eight.Title Brazil : "O Hobbit: Uma Jornada Inesperada" "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"