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

The Hobbit is a great story. It is not however, an "epic fantasy." It is a childrens book that can be read in one afternoon. Therein lies my main concern with this adaptation. Two movies that included The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings appendices / other Tolkein writings seemed appropriate. Adding a third movie leaves the door open for Peter Jackson to invent and "improve" parts of the story as he did with Lord of the Rings. The trailer itself looks pretty good, obviously the battles with the goblins will be extended out and made into a major focus of the movie. Jackson is also adding Radagast the Brown, who is only breifly mentioned in his writings and not in The Hobbit at all (riding around on a sled no less.) This is the type of thing that tends to bother fans of the books, of which I am one. I think these will be good movies, if you take them as being only based on Tolkeins work and not as actual representations of the books. Clearly this review is not based on having actually seen the movie, only the trailer and knowledge of what Peter Jackson did with Lord of the Rings. Maybe I will be surprised.