The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey(2012)- User Reviews

I found myself disappointed with Jackson's approach in expanding the story of the unexpected journey. The Hobbit is a very sweet story of heroism and courage. While the book mentions battles and we all know that they happened, Jackson spent far too much time focused on the details. The joy in reading The Hobbit was the focus on how the small every day opportunities for courage and heroism sustain and lift us. Jackson mentions those ideas then detracts from them with the focus on violence as fill and scenes that seem to be included because they work for 3d. There are many things that are out of order or just did not happen in the book. Bilbo met up with the dwarves at an inn not on a road. He picked the pocket of a troll and was caught. No mention of cutting ponies free with a stolen knife. Radagast is briefly mentioned in the book and while the dwarves might have run into him in the woods, that was not described anywhere in the book. The rock giants fight was far too long. Thorin did not jump down from the trees to fight with anyone. Bilbo did not watch the dwarves run past in the tunnel. I loved the Shire and Rivendell.
I have read The Hobbit many times over 37 years. There are a lot of things that I like about the movie, however, it was disappointing that Jackson strayed from the book. There are acceptable ways to modify the story for the screen play. This is not one of them.