"The Hobbit" Movie Review

LOVED this song! :D

WARNING: Spoilers
Wow, what an amazing film! :D The critics didn't like the film all that much but then, what do they know, they didn't care for the Star Wars Prequels either and those movies were amazing.
I was pretty sure I'd love The Hobbit and I wasn't disappointed- Peter Jackson yet again delivered another amazing installment in Middle Earth.
        The film was lighter than the LOTR but that was to be expected and in fact I enjoyed the setting- it was light but had their sense of foreboding, of something dark coming, which sets up nicely with the approaching dark times we see in Lord of the Rings.
       My top favorite things about this film were the characters, the plot, the action, and the humor, so I will discuss each of those below.

The plot: The story, from what I remember of the book(I was twelve-thirteen when I read the book), followed the original story line pretty well(of course, it was embellished at points), especially during the Riddle scene. The film really makes you feel for the Dwarfs and how they feel lost and despondent because of what they lost- especially the lost, wandering prince Thorin Oakenshield.
         I loved the opening with Bilbo(as Ian Holm) writing down the story of his adventure and how it goes to narrating the fall of the Dwarf homeland. Another thing I really enjoyed about the beginning was the Frodo cameo- it was great to see Frodo again :). I really like how the story ties in various threads of Middle Earth lore and mythology- I especially enjoyed seeing the Ring Wraiths. I also loved the ending- it definitely had me smiling- in fact, I smiled quite a lot during the film :D.
The Riddle scene was great- it followed the chapter in the book really well(also, I guessed Smeagol's first two riddles before the answers were given!).

The characters: Wow, such great characters!! :D I'm a bit of a character obsessee for I always enjoy good characters and this movie definitely has them :D.  While I enjoyed all the characters, I'd have to say my favorites were - Bilbo, Thorin, Kili, and Gandalf.
        I'm going to begin with Bilbo Baggins, the hero of the film- Matrin Freeman was the perfect choice for the role. He impressed me greatly with his acting abilities and I enjoyed seeing his character grow over the course of the story from superstitious and jumpy to the hero he was all along. In fact, some of my favorite parts include Bilbo's heroism such as when he saved Thorin(by freaking BODY SLAMMING an orc!) in a demonstration of the small saving the mighty(which is something I absolutely love seeing). His character arc was so good and I loved seeing it. And, strangely, I found myself identifying with him. He is definitely a hero and I can't wait to see more of this awesome guy! :D
           I also really enjoyed Thorin and his character journey. When we first see him, he immediately caught my attention as one awesome guy- his duels, fighting, and eventual devastation at everything he and his people lost really strike home and you can truly see the sadness and despair he feels and it was easy for me to sympathize with him. His fight scenes were awesome and the part where we learn how he got his name sake 'Oakenshield' is very awesome(any guy who can fend off a powerful orc warrior with only a piece of an oak branch definitely earns my respect) My favorite parts with him were the scene where he admitted to Bilbo that he was wrong about him (I've never been more wrong)- that part definitely made me smile and really brought this character to a good place at the end of the film. I can't wait to see more of this guy in the next film as well :D
                Gandalf was...well, Gandalf the Awesome(I mean Gray, of course XD). Ian McKellan was wonderful, as always, in his role and really brought his character to life(hey, did anyone catch him bumping his head like he did in FOTR? XD). My favorite scenes with Gandalf have to be when he was talking to Galadriel and admitted that he was afraid and that Bilbo gave him courage, as well as his views on what holds the darkness at bay- common kindness and the normal, everyday people. I love that, while Middle Earth is full of awesome and powerful warriors, it is almost always the regular, deemed 'unimportant' person that ends up the hero and saves the day(Same, Frodo, Bilbo, Merry, Pippin, etc). I also enjoyed the marvelous scene with him, Galadriel, Elrond, and Saruman talking(and Gandalf's little trick, Mwhaha); the parts that foreshadowed Sauron's return were also really cool and I enjoyed them :)
                 The dwarfs were all great, but by favorite, along with Thorin, would have to be Kili and Balin. I love Kili because he is quite funny, really good with weapons, and very handsome to boot(he kind of reminds me of the guy I like in how he looks) As for Balin, I enjoyed how wise he was and how he helped Bilbo and others out. I can't wait to see more of these two guys(especially Kili, HA! XD)
     
             The action, was of course, amazingly done! :D The fight scenes, especially the one at the end, were very dramatic, well done, and very exciting. I especially loved how, at the battle by the tree, everything was surrounded my flames and everything was going slowly; Thorin looked so epic as he emerged from the flames, eyes smarting from the cruel words of the orc who mocked him about his father. Another fight scene I really enjoyed watching was the flashback of Thorin fighting the White Orc and how he used a piece from an oak tree to protect himself- I was sitting there the entire time thinking 'this guy is amazing!' The action is going to be great in the next two films, especially the Battle of Five Armies :)

                 The humor. I actually wasn't expecting this, but I laughed quite a lot during this film. I didn't really care for the little bit of potty humor but it wasn't all that much, so it is easy to look over, since the rest of it is so good. The best parts would have to be when, at the beginning, all the dwarfs are coming in and Bilbo's freaking out while trying to be polite about it(and getting annoyed with their loudness, which is what I'd be doing too XD) and when there talking about the dwarfs having parasites(that was just hilarious!! XD). There wasn't much humor in LOTR so I was surprised at how much was in The Hobbit but, as I said above, it fits the mood splendidly.

So, I would definitely say, if you love the Lord of the Rings trilogy, or just fantasy in general, that you go watch this movie. You won't be disappointed :D
And if you've already seen the film, what did you think of it? :)

Oh and if you would, you should check out the post below(I'm doing a question/answer thing) :)
May the Force be with you...Always
Jedi Shena Tokala signing out