The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever… Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths ofguile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” …a simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know. — (C) Warner Bros

I love the Lord of the Rings books and film series. This was one of the movies I was most excited for this year. Although, it was not as good as the Lord of the Rings films, I really liked The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

One of the things I was most curious about before seeing the film was how the filmmakers were going to make the book The Hobbit into 3 separate films. The book is not that long. They are actually taking a lot information from Tolkien’s appendices of the whole series. It was fun to see small details in the book become bigger events in the movie. An example of this is in the book, Gandalf goes to a council with some of the other important figures in Middle Earth. We do not get to experience this reading The Hobbit but in the movie we get to see it. I loved seeing small events become more important.

Martin Freeman is absolutely perfect as Bilbo Baggins. I think he actually looks a lot like a young Ian Holm (Older Bilbo in LOTR). He captures the personality of an adventurous Hobbit very well. Ian McKellen is once again fantastic as Gandalf the Grey. All of the dwarfs are great and have such different personalities. There are so many though it is hard to keep them straight. By far though, the best part of the film is when Gollum is on the screen. Once again, Andy Serkis steals the show with his motion-capture performance. In my opinion, Andy Serkis is long overdue for some Oscar recognition.

My only complaint about the film was the new technology that was used. A normal film is shown at 24 frames per second. The Hobbit is done with 48 frames per second. In my opinion, I felt that this was a distraction during the film. It took me about half of the movie to get used to it and I still did not really like it during the action scenes. Some people may love the new technology and added sharpness though. It just was not my favorite. Your chances of seeing it with the new technology are slim though. Only about 500 theaters in the nation can do it. If you plan on seeing the film in 3D and do not want to see it with the 48 frames per second, make sure you ask before buying your ticket. Some of the 3D showings will not have the new technology. If you plan on seeing it in 2D, you will be seeing it with the 24 frames per second.

I love The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I am excited to see it again and I am really curious to see what they will be putting into the next 2 films!