Movie Review: The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey

As you probably know, I love, love, love, The Lord of the Rings films and watch them over and over and over again on a very regular basis. So, when I found out there was going to be a film version of The Hobbit I got pretty fired up and when I found out Peter Jackson was directing; well, I may have shed tears of joy. The first trailers for this movie were released in December 2011 and I watched it over and over and over again (are you detecting a pattern here?). I more or less circled the December 14 theatrical release date on my calendar and was so excited to see this film I could hardly stand it - and then I was so stinkin' busy that I never made it to the theater until two weeks later. Yes, folks for the first time in my life I did not go see a Lord of the Rings/Hobbit film on opening night.

I finally did manage to go see The Hobbit last Saturday afternoon. I had planned to see the 11:30 showing but for reasons even I can't remember ended up at the 3:00 showing. I got there about 2:45 and the theater was packed. Clearly, I am not the only person who loves this movie franchise or who waited two weeks after the release to go see it. I found a seat on the side of the theater in a row of two so that I was able to unload my coat, purse, etc. in the seat next to me. I would also like to take this moment to mention the new popcorn bucket they have at Carmike, formerly known as Rave. For $18.50 you get a bucket of popcorn and until December 31, 2013 you can bring the bucket back to the theater and have it filled for $3.50. This ultimately saves me money because instead of spending $6 on popcorn every time I got to the theater I only spend $3.50. It basically pays for itself after seven movies. So, if you aren't planning on seeing seven movies in a year's time, then it might not be a good investment; but, for me, it has worked out wonderfully.

The Hobbit, well, it was every bit as wonderful as I had hoped it would be and more so. the advancements in cinematography in the past 10 years never ceases to amaze me. The picture was absolutely amazing and was shot with more cameras than Lord of the Rings. There was even more detail (hard to believe, but true) and absolutely took my breath away on more than one occasion. I watched Lord of the Rings a few days after seeing The Hobbit and was surprised at how old it looked and that is the first time it has appeared to look old to me.

The acting was just as fantastic as you would expect from this movie franchise. Many of the same people return to their roles (Gandalf, Galadriel, Gollum, and some others that don't start with G) and did a great job reprising the characters we have come to love. The newer cast members were also fantastic and fit the roles of their characters splendidly.

The movie, which runs two hours and 46 minutes, did not seem long to me at all. At one point I looked at my phone just because I was curious as to the time. I figured maybe an hour at the most had passed and was surprised to find that actually two hours had passed. I could not believe it. It felt like I had only been sitting there for about 30 minutes. It could just be because I love these stories so much, I really don't know, but I got sucked into The Hobbit just the same if not more so than I did with Lord of the Rings. I had heard a lot of people mention that it seemed drawn out, but to me, it did not feel that way in the least. In fact, I was kind of sad when it ended and I think a lot of others were as well. The good thing for those of us who love these movies is that there are two more installations of this book coming our way in December of this year and in December of 2014. Of the four movies I saw the week I was on Christmas vacation, The Hobbit was by far my favorite, and my recommendation to you is to definitely go see it before it leaves the big screen. I will more likely than not take in a second showing.