The Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyMovie Reviews

Poster art for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Showtimes + Tickets

See this movie in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - An IMAX 3D Experience in IMAX 3D The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 3D in Digital 3D The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - An IMAX Experience in IMAX

Review This Movie

Go Based on 29,044 reviews
Breakdown:

Sort by: Helpfulness
Review Date

Go
Written January 1, 2013
Entertainment!

by Salty_Gecko

I'm of a genertion that was tortured by the Star Wars trilogy .... therefore I'm a little more tolerant of 'artistic licence' taken by film-makers like GL, SS, PJ, ...

Though "The Hobbit" was written by Tolkien as more of a children's story than LOT, I wasn't expecting the intensity that has been added to the script.

The start links to scenes from the LOT movies nicely;
I loved the adaptation of the dwarves arriving at Bag End;
Thorin is much more than 'impressive';
The dish cleaning song and the contract scenes are amusing;
Radagast is quirkier than a Mad Hatter!
Rivendell is even more spell-binding!
The goblin caves remind me of chase scenes from the Indiana Jones series;
The white orc is a good addition and lead-in to the orcs in LOT;
All the scenes with Gollum are memorable.

I can't wait to see the next installment!
- 6 out of 7 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Must Go!
Written December 19, 2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

by silversurfertx

the pace varied, the characters had minutes to expose their motivations, the development scenes mostly worked well. For a long movie, I did not notice the time. And I have read the original book. Very enjoyable. Must Go. David R.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Go
Written December 17, 2012
An Overindulgent Journey

by wdarling

I found the movie to be just about what I feared it would be ? over-indulgent, under-edited, and full of gratuitous stuff (scenes, effects, effects and effects) that just should not have been there. The ?more is more? approach really did not do it for me. Still, I wouldn?t completely pan it. For letter grade, I?d say B-, because there too much masterful film making, yet in totality, not so hot. I hope very much that movies two and three are better than this first one. Maybe there?s still time for Jackson et al. to take critics? points into consideration and fix those before they go to theaters.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Must Go!
Written December 17, 2012
An Unexpected Review

by nick.ross

For me, I thought the movie made perfect sense. While some critics might argue that the story is too "bloated" with information not pertinent to the actual adventure that Bilbo has set out upon, each bit of additional information serves a purpose. As a fan of the LOTR movies, I believe that Jackson is using The Hobbit as a platform to fill in the cracks of the stories of Middle Earth that were first told in the Rings trilogy. The movie flows effortlessly along with the story lines of both The Hobbbit and LOTR. What has mostly surprised me is the fact that everyone wants to talk about how needlessly long the film is, or the fact that they think it is a ploy to make extra cash. It seems to me that most people are missing the point. Bilbo sets out on an adventure that he was perfectly satisfied to be left behind on, yet even by the end of the first film, we can see a change taking place in Bilbo. That's what its about, Bilbo's willingness to lend a hand to those in need. As we all should
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Must Go!
Written December 14, 2012
For Tolkien Die-Hards and Newbies

by rdthompson10

This was a beautiful film, full of adventure and life. Peter Jackson has taken The Hobbit's storyline and perfectly balanced its childish lightheartedness with the more serious aspects of the Appendices. There are so many little aspects that die hard fans of the books and LOTR films will eat up the entire time, but it is also fresh enough to hold onto the attention of someone who has never read or seen any of them. The cinematography was great and, while a lot of people do not like the new style of film that Jackson used, if you go into expecting it to have a different feel than the LOTR films, it won't bother you after the first 5 minutes. As in the LOTR films, the writing was great and the music was brilliant. The song that the dwarves sing gave me chills and brought me to tears. This is a great family movie, though if you have young children that scare easily, be prepared for some fantasy violence and monster scenes. All in all, an amazing movie that I will be seeing again.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
No
Written December 15, 2012
Marathon of crap

by ugadvm

Peter Jackson must believe he can put out anything and people will eat it up (i suspect he's right). I'm a huge LOTR fan but The Hobbit is a bad movie marathon all in one enormously bloated package. Radagst is the new Jar Jar Binks, the movie is better off without him.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Go
Written December 24, 2012
Hobbit

by hmcquist

In the long run I did like the movie quite a lot and would recommend it to be seen, I will say that it took a little while to get the plot running.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Must Go!
Written December 14, 2012
Great movie

by joshua.olewnik12

This movie was awesome, I had been waiting for it since I was about 12. There were a few parts where the story was expanded and even altered for the sake of the movie, but overall it was a great investment. So if you have 10-20 dollars and a few hours to spare, go see The Hobbit!!
- 6 out of 7 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Go
Written December 19, 2012
Long but worth the money.

by multik8er

I wasn't thrilled by the first half of the movie but the second half was worth the costly ticket price to see the midnight release. The dwarfish songs were more charming than I had expected and the graphics were stunning. And, of course, I'm forever in love with Galadriel and any screen time given to her. Furthermore, I'm a Lord of the Rings fan (book and movie). Needless to say, I wouldn't hesitate one second to recommend this one.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Go
Written December 23, 2012
Expected and delivered

by dj_fabulous

The Hobbit was a well done rendition of the beginning of this story. Long movie for how far into the story it actually got, however.

I was heartened to see that compassion, love, loyalty, and forgiveness all got leading roles. While my socks stayed on, I really liked this flick way more than the critics thought I should. Boo to them.

Yay for Bilbo and Gandalf and the forces of good in the world. Well, at least the "up with my side" rendition.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
So-so
Written December 16, 2012
The Hobbit 1: A real disappointment

by rOBERT_m_kYLE

Took the family to the 8:40pm showing last night.

The CGI in places was less than superior

There were a few places we were chuckling due to the gholam

The dragon scene seemed chaotic and lacked spirit

Some of the same effects in the "Rings" were used in the hobbit. for example, ghandolph was seated around with the dwarfs. to get their attention, he stood up, his face went dark, as well as the room.

Many of the characters were not very well developed.

There was alot of chasing and fighting, and the effects were less than supurb.

All in all, the film lacked passion and spirit. The CGI seemed rushed and slapped together, something we might expect from a lower budget film. With all the marketing hype and millions spent on advertising, this movie clearly failed to live up to expectations.

I'd rate this movie "So~So"
- 6 out of 7 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
No
Written January 5, 2013
Editing, please

by Satchel2011

BORING... Too many long battle scenes.... If you seen one orc getting slashed, you've seen them all. Cinematography, animation was great. Loved sets and costumes. Left halfway becasue it was too violent for my son. Even he was getting bored.

Why would anyone make a HOBBIT movie PG-13? It is unfortunate that the editing was so poor because the actors were terrific.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Go
Written January 10, 2013
Thought it was awesome!!

by XquizitOne

As with the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the movie ends with you wanting more... A great family movie with just a few scary thematic elements.
- 6 out of 7 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Go
Written December 16, 2012
THE HOBBIT

by maje6961

I enjoyed the hobbit. The scenery is beautiful throughout the movie. The introduction of the Dwarfs is spectauclar. Can't say enough about Thorin. There is no dwarf i n the world so masucline and sexy. Can't wait to see him again. But the movie belongs to Gandalf. Gandalf steals the movie with a quiet grace. The best scene in the movie is between Bilbo Boaggins and Gollum. There are moments the movie is slow hence the rating of "Go" rather than "Must go". Looking forward to the next installment.
- 6 out of 7 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Must Go!
Written December 14, 2012
Great movie!

by

This movie was definitely a good one - the acting, script, costumes, sets, digital art, and make-up were all superb. The few changes they made to the original plot were interesting, added to the drama, and kept me interested for the entire 3 hours! I will definitely see it again before it leaves theaters.
- 6 out of 7 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No