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

Must Go!
Written December 15, 2012
Review of the Hobbit

by llds1

I thought the movie was great. My son and I have seen every one of these movies. We loved the funny parts, to me this movie started to answer questions that I had in the first 3 movies. To me they brought back enough of the original characters to help the movie flow. I am excited to see the next movie. Overall, this is a must see for Lord of the Rings fans. This movie in my opinion receives 5 stars.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Go
Written January 20, 2013
Not like Lord of the rings

by gottobefree49

This movie is a little different than the Lord of the rings,i think. In the beginning is so slow and boring, when it starts to pick up it does get a little better. The men could be a little bit more handsome. The lord of the rings men were handsome. The actors are good and the effects are great and the scenery is excellent. I would have to watch this movie again just to watch some parts i might not have picked up on.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Go
Written January 11, 2013
Surprising!

by ShebaLatray

I wasn't sure what to expect. We had warning some thngs had been added......
I love that they kept the song the dwarfs sang about their home when they were at the Shire.
I love that the ponies were so cute!
The rock creatures were new and it added excitement to the movie....that was cool.
That was an awesome angle on the view of Rivendale! Love it.
The white ork was a twist, but he was scary if that's what they were going for.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Must Go!
Written December 15, 2012
Worth the wait. Go see it.

by knights7

It was an amazing film worth waiting for. There is some changes from the book but not anything that changes the flow of the book's plot. And it had a breath taking story and special effects. If you like Gollum in the other three films you'll melt with this installment in the Lord of the Rings world. The story was awesome and left you rooting for the characters and biting your nails when they were in danger.
Go SEE! Well worth your money.
I will go see it again for sure.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
So-so
Written December 16, 2012
Dissapointed

by mark97

Very dissapointed with the Hobbit. It did not follow the book and it threw humor in that was out of place. Not even in the same league as The Lord of the Rings.
- 66 out of 127 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Go
Written December 15, 2012
Unexpected Journey for sure

by MovieluvnCat

Tolkien wrote a great story in one book. Jackson should not have tried to improve on Tolkien; he draws it out and adds too much and changes too much. There are many parts that are true to the story, and many other parts that are obvious attempts to tie this story to LOTR and other parts that I not sure where they come from - I haven't read all of the Silmarillion yet. LOTR had some changes but they were forgivable and many parts came from the Appendicies, whereas some of the Hobbit ones are hard to swallow. But all that being said I will go see it again and let myself be entertained by Jackson even though it is only loosely Tolkien's story.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
So-so
Written December 20, 2012
Peter J drops it again

by Amra

In "The Hobbit" Mr. Jackson again moves forward on the assumption that he is a better storyteller than Tolkien, & he is, as ever, wrong. PJ deserves thanks for stunning visuals, due to his choice of John Howe and Alan Lee as lead designers, but "TH" has its furry feet tripped up by new/changed scenes crammed with cliches & clumsy exposition, even where the original scenes covered the same ground with evocative imagery & blessed brevity.
The white orc's addition was actually clever, w/the weaving of him into the extant plot handled well, but many scenes were chopped w/o reason. PJ saved maybe 4 minutes running time by truncating many of JRRT's brilliant songs, many clever quips, & the main riddle in the riddle game, only to add a boring, clumsy intro that would have been better served as flashbacks in "Far over the Misty Mountains Cold". "15 Birds in 5 Fir Trees" & "Down, Down" were sorely missed! When Rankin-Bass' anime feels a truer tale than a $180M epic, something's very wrong.
- 43 out of 81 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Must Go!
Written December 16, 2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected WIN

by Artistbrain98

I do not even know where to begin here. I suppose I'll start by pointing out the accuracy was astounding, next to nothing was added or eliminated (which partially makes up for the immense length) and the continuity made it unbelievably easy to follow. The effects were magnificent; it took time afterward for me to remember that more than half of the movie was completely computer-generated, and that our protagonists weren't actually battling hundreds of goblins, enormous Orcs, living mountains, and riding the backs of twenty foot eagles. let's move on the acting; Martin Freeman could not have been a more appropriate choice for Bilbo Baggins. He played the role perfectly, to the point where his mannerisms and voice were exactly how I had imagined them when reading, each of the actors fell perfectly into the part they played, the result is a masterpiece. This movie is one for the ages, each and every component is phenomenal in its own way. I will greatly anticipate the next installment.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
So-so
Written December 17, 2012
Blah - It could have been better

by mcbonet

I found this movie to be lacking. It was too long. Too much time was giving to fight scenes and characters running away from trouble/falling rocks. There was no character development for the dwarfs, they were all lumped in as "the company". I don't even remember half their names. There was toooo much CGI - where did the people in costumes go? I much preferred the way the orcs and uruk hai were made in the original trilogy. Those hounds/wolves that attacked at the end looked cheap. I really did not like the look of the movie - fantasy films should not look "real".

About the only thing I liked was Bilbo - and he disappeared halfway through the movie.
I was looking forward to this movie - but now I'm just disappointed.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Must Go!
Written December 15, 2012
GREAT job .. Peter Jackson et al

by asaph

Magical, wonderful trip through Middle Earth. Not sure how Tolkien would feel about the plot subdivisions, but great story telling, sweet effects, endearing dialog, convincing acting and gripping action.

This really is a movie to be seen on the big screen too. Excellent.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Go
Written December 14, 2012
Tries to do too much

by jckline

Fun, beautiful, and with great performances from Freeman and Armitage. The set pieces are great, but there's too much filler, and Jackson tries too hard to make a Lord of the Rings prequel instead of just making The Hobbit.
- 5 out of 5 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Go
Written December 15, 2012
Good movie, but not for little kids!

by

I have read The Hobbit and LOTR series many times between second grade and the present, so needless to say was giddy over the release of this film!

The Hobbit digresses from the books quite blatantly, while the LOTR films stayed very true. I don't see it as a problem, just something to note if you are counting on seeing the book-version on screen. It was beautifully done, engaging, and fun to watch besides some of the more gruesome Ork/Warg/Gobblin/Troll scenes. It is rated PG-13 for a reason. The creatures I mentioned above far surpassed any scariness I could have conjured in my mind, and it didn't enhance the experience for me. Some scenes (Gollum dragging a gobblin into his lair to eat him, shot from above) were very reminiscent of many horror-films. Not a fan, and certainly not a fan of the 6-8 year olds in front of me cringing and asking to leave being there.

If you are over the age of 12 and into the books or fantasy, go see it! Not as good as LOTR, but still good.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
So-so
Written January 8, 2013
Must be a fan to watch

by bls8557

It was long and drawn out, but the imagery was great. Since I'm a fan, I had to go...but it was really long and slow.
- 5 out of 6 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
Must Go!
Written December 15, 2012
There and Back Again

by

The Hobbit was everything I hoped it to be. I saw the non-3D version, of course! 3D = whatever! Anyways, the landscapes, the cities, the costuming, the cinematography, the humor, the acting, seeing familiar faces, etc. It was fantastic. Unlike the book, the movie gives the dwarves competency, personality, and charm. I felt at times the only weakness was some of the CG work. A lot of the CG work was magnificent. I loved the music as it paid tribute to the past scores while inserting new music. The dwarven song was gorgeous and beautiful. The harmony of it all. Can't wait for the next film!!!! Don't believe the Naysayers! It was FANTASTIC. I was so involved it didn't feel like 3 hours at all.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No
So-so
Written December 17, 2012
Trying too hard with technology

by turkeychic82

We saw the 2D version, since 3D makes us both feel ill. I loved LOTR, but felt like they were trying too hard with this. They seem to stretch the story out with long, very unnecessary falling scenes. They also do very little character development with the dwarfs. Unlike LOTR, where you knew a bit about each member of the fellowship, in Hobbit, you don't hear the names often enough to remember them, and don't see most of the dwarfs individually enough to know anything about them. If the director was going to stretch this out to 3 films (should have been 2 tops), he should at least have spent more time on story, rather than trying to impress us with what will in a few years be outdated technology.
- 4 out of 4 found this review helpful.
- Was this helpful to you?
- Yes
- No