This is the Unexpected Journey portion of the book turned trilogy series, as such, it is appropriately named. I loved the Hobbit, and I was kind of excited when I heard Peter Jackson was dividing the book into more than one movie. Despite what some of the critics say, there is A LOT in the Hobbit, so it needs to be separated into more than one movie to do it justice. However, I draw the line at two. This does not need to be a trilogy, as evidenced by this movie.
Normally, I dislike movies from books that I have read because the movie never really seems to do the book justice. There isn't enough attention to detail, things are left out, things are completely changed, etc. This movie did not have that fault. It has been a while since I read The Hobbit, about 13 years I believe, but I'm pretty sure this hit every single line in the book so far. So, you would think I would have LOVED it. But alas, it still fell short. I appreciate that when you turn a book into a movie, you're going to have to leave something out to make it a good movie. This movie proves that.
I know I seem overly harsh because on the one side I hate it when they take too much out, but then on the other hand I also don't enjoy it when they leave too much in. However, this is because there is a reason to read the book and a reason to see the movie. One is more for entertainment than the other. A movie is not supposed to be 9 hours long, then it's a mini-series. It is supposed to be a quick fix. I brings the book to life in a way that most people can't. It's a companion, not a replacement. Turning The Hobbit into a trilogy makes the movie replace the book, not accompany it.
There is not THAT much entertainment value in almost 3 hours of setting up all of the things that are going to happen in the next movies. Yes, I enjoyed it, to some extent, but I was also bored to some extent. I want to see the next installment now, not in a year. However, that desire is because I want to see the truly exciting parts of the story that I already know, not because this movie left me wanting that much more.
Sorry for the diatribe on books to movies, but I felt like this was the best way to explain my feelings about the movie. It was boring, not because I wasn't invested, but because I got lost in the bark when Mr. Jackson should have been loosing me in the forest. (Sorry for the over-used forest for the trees analogy we law school kids have heard too often these last almost 3 years!) The acting was good, the story-line is, obviously good, the connections to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, that I missed when reading this prequel before LOTR, is fascinating, and I do look forward to seeing the other two films. I was just underwhelmed with this movie standing alone.
In the end, I give this a 6.5 out of 10. If I didn't love the story so much it would be worse.
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