I’m going to start off by saying one thing…Peter Jackson is a god. In the words of our Tabitha, Peter Jackson doesn’t make movies…he makes films. These are so true. Now, I have a respect for Guillermo del Toro, though I’m not a big fan of his movies…but I’m so glad that Peter Jackson was the final director for The Hobbit.

Now, I headed down to a supper with my darling LADA friends to enjoy some good food and drinks before we headed down to the Universal City Walk to see The Hobbit at midnight. I always have a good time with these guys and this time wasn’t any different. You should have SEEN the awesome cosplay outfits going on…I should’ve taken pictures but, you know, excitement overrode good decisions haha.

But moving on…

This movie was can be describe in one word (though I’ll use way more): EPIC. Epic. This movie will go down in history as a monumental movie. There is no way it won’t. I enjoyed it so thoroughly that not only did I see it Thursday night at midnight but I also saw it again on Saturday night. Its that good.

Now for those of you who are familiar with The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings, bear with me for a minute. For those of you who aren’t, or are familiar with LOTR but not the Hobbit, here’s what we have: The Hobbit is the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It tells the story of Bilbo Baggins and his own adventure. He lives his comfortable home in the Shire, enjoying his wealth and his food before being swept off on an adventure with Gandalf, Thorin Oakenshield (the Dwarf prince) and a band of dwarves.

The dwarves hail from Erebor, the Lonely Mountain, where one of the biggest and most thriving kingdoms have existed…that is until it is overtaken by Smaug the dragon. They are driven from their home, and their immense riches, and forced to find a place in their world.

Now it is their time to reclaim their home, and for Thorin to reclaim his place as King Under the Mountain, along with his band of dwarves: Balin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Dwalin, Fili, Kili, Gloin, Oin and Ori…along with Gandalf the Grey and Bilbo Baggins.

It’s an adventurous story, more meant for children than the Lord of the Rings series and it does show the moment and circumstances in which Bilbo finds the One Ring.

Now, The Hobbit is being made into three parts: An Unexpected Journey, The Desolation of Smaug and There and Back Again. Those who have read the book probably know that there isn’t quite that much to create three whole movies. However, there is so much more information from both the appendices and The Silmarillion to create a more full and exciting story.

The Good or the Bad:

I can’t think of anything bad about this movie. I’ve seen it twice already and I probably will see it again. It was an extremely epic movie and was completely in the style of Peter Jackson.

Now, I’ve read some of the reviews from some critics out there, and I’ve seen the 65% on Rotten Tomatoes and I’ll tell you something: They are all full of crap. Seriously. One of the biggest complaints from most of these ill reviews is the length of the movie and what they feel is the unneccessary additions to the story.

I strongly disagree. I loved the additions from the appendices and The Silmarillion. It created a full story and helped to bridge the gap between Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, and perhaps will show the connection between the two much better. I feel that critics aren’t out there enjoying the movies and stories the way the fans are. The fan reaction to the movie so far? All good, all great. The fans understand and the fans love it. The critics wouldn’t sit through a six hour Harry Potter movie, a seven hour Lord of the Rings movie.

We would. And nearly three hours of The Hobbit almost seemed like not enough…I can’t wait until next December to see the second part.

First off, they put together such a wonderful group of actors to portray these wonder characters. Ian McKellan returning as Gandalf and Hugo Weaving as Elrond, Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Elijah Wood as Frodo, Ian Holm as older Bilbo, Andy Serkis as Gollum…all wonderful actors that I was so happy to see back in this movie.

But I was so excited to see Martin Freeman as younger Bilbo. I adore Martin as John Watson in the BBC series Sherlock and he did an absolutely fantastic job as Bilbo. He captures Bilbo’s innocence and heart, and he brought a humor to him as well. Bravo for Martin Freeman.

I enjoyed Richard Armitage as Thorin…he portrayed the prideful, stubborn and vengeful dwarf prince very well.  Thorin is a complicated character, full of pride and determination in his vengeance. Plus, way to go in the effects: Armitage is a tall man and they did a great job making him into a short and stocky dwarf. Sylvestor McCoy was a nice little addition as Radagast the Brown, the wizard.

Aidan Turner was FANTASTIC as the dwarf, Kili. I spent pretty much the entire movie admiring his acting…and his very good looking face. I mean, his seriously seriously good looking face. My god. I immediately went home and googled him and found out who played him and was pretty excited to find out that Turner will be playing Luke Garroway in the movie adaptation of City of Bones.

There was also a nice appearance by Lee Pace as the elf king of Mirkwood, Benedict Cumberbatch as the necromancer and the dragon, Smaug (the small glance we get of Smaug at the end of the movie looked SO awesome).

Then there was all the cinematography. The quality of the movie was so clear and real, and it was filmed so well. The landscapes and sets were beautiful: The Shire, Erebor, Dale, Rivendell, the Mines of Moria, the goblin kingdom, and on and on. Every single place that was shown was so beautifully done. When Peter Jackson creates a world, he literally creates a world. Nothing about it felt fake or CGI, it felt so breath-takingly real.

Then all the battle scenes! All the battle scenes were fabulous and fun to watch, especially the battle scene between the orcs and dwarves at the mines of Moria and the battle out of the goblin caves. They are on such a grand scale but again, done so well. I was on the edge of my seat, watching the dwarves battle their foes.

The best part of the movie was the scene between Bilbo and Gollum…probably because that is my favorite part in the book. People often assume Gollum is a stupid character, because he is ugly and he’s consumed by the ring but he’s not. He was clever enough to come by the ring and he continues to be clever to survive. The game of riddles is the scene with the least amount of action but with the most tension, as they trade riddles back and forth. I thought they did it wonderful, Martin Freeman had wonderful timing in that scene and Andy Serkis is just brilliant as Gollum.

Lastly, I like where it ended…with the dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf looking out towards the Lonely Mountain, hopeful that they will make it and take back Erebor from Smaug the dragon. Its a hopeful ending, so that it ends on a fairly good note but it also ends with the desire to find out what happens next.

Now, maybe not everyone agrees with me. Maybe some people didn’t like the way the movie was shot, or the length with all the additions to the story or whatever. I , on the other hand, enjoyed it very, very much and most fans that I have talked to enjoyed it as well. I think that’s the most important part. The point of the movie is to tell a story and Peter Jackson did it in a wonderful, fantastic way. The point of adapting a book into a movie is to please the fans of the book…and I think that was accomplished.

I can’t wait til part 2: The Desolation of Smaug comes out.

It hits theaters worldwide December 13, 2013.

What did you think of The Hobbit? As always, share in the comments.

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