Make sure you brush up on your Unexpected Tales and Silmarillion lore! There's a lot of it in this movie, which makes it kind of slow for regular movie-goers. But if you're familiar with the stories, its a blast!!! Radagast the Brown, who is barely a character in the books, is brought to life in a HUGE way and you can't get enough of him. The dwarves are great fun, just like the books. Silly but tough!

While it's not LotR, The Hobbit is a wonderful romp through Middle Earth. It is good to spend some time there before the character's hearts grow heavy with the weight of the war against Sauron. Martin Freeman is brilliant as a young Bilbo Baggins, and while it's a bit difficult to keep so very many dwarves straight, they are enjoyable and wonderful to watch as a group. If you're not sure about the high frame rate + 3D technology, go see it without 3D. It is still beautiful and a very well-told story even without our gimmicky technology.

The story is fun and there is nothing else like this series. However, the beginning is awkward and long, the chemistry between the characters is weird, and much of the CGI is too exagerated. The CGI was very ambitious and after a while, it was a problem to me. I can tell it is a Peter Jackson call to be this ambitious. It reminded me of the silly dinosaur segment in his KING KONG. Andy Serkis and Ian McKellen are great. Martin Freemen is not so good. He is charming, but some of his lines were poorly done. The stopping point for the ending is fitting for the start the second film, but it is also awkward. It didn't climax and I thought more was coming instead of ending. I am very critical of the quality. I expect more from these films and PJ is not so great.

Peter Jackson does it again! The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is an excellent movie that takes its time to be true to the book and sets up the trilogy nicely for the next films. The adventure involves a vicious, gold-loving dragon by the name of Smaug, but before we get to his mountain and all that treasure, we get plenty of action involving orcs and, best of all, a younger, more realistic Gollum. This movie is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings (occurs over 60 years prior to the story in that trilogy) and there are several scenes where the two trilogies share characters and mythology. So, it's no surprise that time is spent tying the two together. In my opinion, some of those scenes could've been shorter, or omitted entirely. In fact, you'll find that the first 45 minutes of this film are slow and long-winded. I was still at the edge of my seat from the beginning and am now looking forward to the next two! BTW, I may see it again.

All I have to say is go. Just go. It was amazing, they did a very good job and I can't wait for the last two movies XD