The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Review

     Before The Black Gate, before Pelannor Fields, Before Helms Deep there was the tale of Bilbo Baggins' adventures with a band of dwarves and Gandalf.
  The Hobbit was directed by Peter Jackson who's the perfect choice for this movie because he directed the Lord of the Rings trilogy so he clearly has a great vision for Middle Earth. So The Hobbit starts out with an old Bilbo Baggins and he's writing something for Frodo he's going to tell him a more in depth story about his adventures. Then you meet a younger Bilbo. Bilbo was played by Martin Freeman and he was fantastic in this movie. There was not one line he gave that I thought was forced. Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Gray. He was Gandalf the White in the last two movies but this takes place before the Fellowship of the Ring so he's Gandalf the Gray. Ian McKellen hasn't lost it he still kills it as Gandalf. So the plot to this movie is that this band of dwarves had this kingdom and treasure and then a dragon called Smaug stole it and Bilbo is helping the dwarves reclaim it.
    The one gripe a lot of people have about this movie is that the pacing is a little slow. Watching the movie I will agree that it takes awhile for the plot to move along. 40 minutes into the movie it's still in The Shire. but once the movie gets going it's awesome. 
     The main things I loved about the movie is you see a struggle with Bilbo. Thorin Oakenshield who's dwarves leader he tells Bilbo you have no place among us. You really see both Bilbo and Thorin deal with that and it's interesting to see that relationship develop. The other thing I loved about the movie is the soundtrack. I will have the Song of the Lonely Mountain stuck in my head for weeks.  
     Overall this was a very enjoyable film. It was not a perfect movie. But the acting was good, there was some very good fight scenes, and the riddle scene with Bilbo and Gollum I could be entertained by that for 2 hours maybe more. I will give this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars. I can't wait for the Desolation of Smaug to come out. I believe it's due out next December. Also I should mention that I saw this movie in 3D Imax and I was pleasantly suprised by it. There were some images that really popped out which was very cool. So I would recommend to anyone who hasn't seen it to see it in 3D Imax you won't be disappointed.