The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Told you it was a Martin Freeman weekend.  I decided to go ahead and re-watch the entire trilogy since I hadn't seen each since they were in theaters and never all together.  I had forgotten exactly how intricate all the action scenes are.  This first movie has a spectacular set-piece where the dwarves are running through a goblin mine and the coordination between each actor is fantastic.  I still couldn't tell you which ones all the dwarves are, but I focused more on Bilbo this time around.  It really is his story, even if it's about dwarves reclaiming their homeland.

Originally posted 24 Dec 12.  Nominated for:  Best Make-up, Best Production Design, and Best Visual Effects 
  Dammit, Peter Jackson.  You couldn't be happy with the Tolkein resurgence you created with your first massive, immersive trilogy, could you?  No, you had to go ahead and suck me into another one.  Now I'm going to have to wait something like four years for this story to be told completely.

I had read some of the early reviews which complained of pacing problems, that the first hour zipped along and the second hour dragged, but I didn't notice any of that. I felt like the film moved along at a fairly even clip, with plenty of action to balance out the extended dialogue.

Rob and I didn't get to see it in IMAX but we did see the high frame rate (HFR) 3D.  It didn't bother me like I thought it might.  There were parts, especially crowd shots, that did look very much like a soap opera but it wasn't so jarring as to take me out of the scene.  I find 3D glasses to darken the overall look of a film and that may have actually worked to advantage here. 

The dwarves of Erebor are driven from their home and forced to become nomads by the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch), who turns their mountain into his hoard.  The king-in-exile, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) puts together a band of merry men --sorry, dwarves-- to go back and kill the dragon.  The wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellan) thinks they need a little extra help and strongarms Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) into joining the company.  Along their way, they are harried by orcs, aided by elves, and almost eaten by trolls. 

As far as criticism goes, I really only have two issues. 1) I could not tell those motherfucking dwarves apart. Seriously, 13 is way too many to keep track of. There's the hot one (Fili), the blond one (Kili), the leader (Thorin), and the funny one (Bofur). I have no idea which ones the others are.

2) No blood in the battle scenes. This PG-13 nonsense has to stop. It is a battle with swords and axes. If there is no blood, what is the point of carrying sharp things? If you're worried about the effect on young minds, make the blood a different color. It's a goblin, how do I know its blood isn't green? But no blood at all? That's retarded.

Overall, the tone is very light but with a lot of foreshadowing.  There are a slew of cameos from Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis, Elijah Wood and Ian Holm representing the cross-over from the Lord of the Rings cycle.  For movies to come, they tease you with glimpses of the dragon and of Thranduil, the High King of the elves (played by Lee Pace!)

It's definitely worth a watch, even for people (like me) who aren't gigantic Tolkein nerds.