The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Artwork for Theatrical Release

I never intended to do it, trust me.

I never grew up reading Tolkien. 

The closest I ever got to The Lord of the Rings, were my friends, who did nothing else but talk about their almighty, Tolkien.  But I thought they were weird - an apropos kettle judging.  But then I fell in love with Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings universe.

I still don't want to read the books, but I love the films, and the starting salvo of The Hobbit trilogy is really no different, even if the flabbergasted notions are not as present as they were for The Fellowship, The Two Towers and for The Return of the King.

Like the earlier installments, this film is ridiculously epic and grandiose, with an incredible amount of attention to details that exemplifies Peter Jackson's filmmaking in its modern stasis.

The art-direction and cinematography are proper to the established cannon, even when it augments greatly and beautifully.

The compositions are phenomenal, with the right play of shallow depth of field, colors and textures that make for very traditional Hollywood filmmaking, but whose determinism and pristine presentation is intense and a joy to watch.

Martin Freeman as a younger, more neurotic Bilbo Baggins is good, really good; full of the quirks that make for great acting.  His Baggins is more frantic and troubled than Ian Holm's more sedentary, more secretively adventurous Bilbo.

The audio design is good, swelling the music and going silent when needed, mixed, in turn, with the expected nuances that have become the battle hymn of modern action/sci-fi soundtracks.

Artwork for Theatrical Release

The locations do not disappoint.  They are simply stunning and the camera work properly accentuates the beauties and minutia of each location, highlighting of minimizing previously used locations.  Always showcasing the sheer beauty of it all.

Gollum (Andy Serkis) is even more realistic and creepier and scarier than you remember, but even so he's a million times more fun to watch.

The film is even more beautiful than The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and believe me when I say it took me a long time to write that.  But the film here seems more methodical.  More layered.  More purposeful, and less overly dramatic.  Although, having said that, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that there is more action than in The Fellowship of the Ring, and less frenetic sequences than The Two Towers and The Return of the King.

If you're not a fan of the films, skip it; even if that isolates you from cultural references.

If you are a fan, even a casual one, catch it on Blu-ray, it's stunning visually.