Movie Reviews: The Hobbit - An Unexpected Journey

The Review

I have to confess that I've been putting this review off for a bit. This was partially because I needed some time to purge all other opinions about this movie from my head. A lot has been said about this movie, ranging from good, to bad, and to reviews just complaining about the 48 fps.

For those that have not yet seen it, there are exactly two ways you will enjoy this. Firstly, if you haven't read the book, and go into the movie expecting it to be long, you will probably enjoy it. Secondly, if you have read the book, as well as all the appendices then you will enjoy this movie. If you've just read The Hobbit then there is a lot added to this movie that will distract you.

News: Hobbit Titles and Release Dates (Book Spoiler Warning)

You can find the original announcement here!

Well, looks like we finally have all the info about Jackson's Hobbit trilogy.

Title                                                                     Release Date
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey                  December 14, 2012
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug                December 13, 2013
The Hobbit: There and Back Again                     July 18, 2014

I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about this being a trilogy, even though I never would have imagined there was enough material to make The Hobbit into three movies. But if Peter Jackson is digging into the appendices then I can't help but think this will be a good thing.

Looks like we're in for another three year journey, but it's interesting that Jackson is releasing Part 3 half a year after Part 2. I guess that's a concession on the studio/filmmakers' part to all the fans that are complaining about having to wait three years instead of two for the whole story. Now you only need to wait two and a half.

I've been trying to figure out where each movie will end and start. I'm thinking that Part 1 will end at Beorn's home, and Part 2 will pick up with Bilbo and the Dwarves travelling into Mirkwood. It will end with Smaug's death at Laketown. Part 3 is tricky, because we don't know exactly what will be used from the appendices. But it's safe to say, I think, that Part 3 will mostly be the Battle of Five Armies, the ending, and whatever Jackson is using from the appendices.

This is all just guess work though. I honestly don't know what parts will be in which movie. But they're educated guesses. What does everyone else think? How would you distribute the plot of the book between the three movies? And what from the appendices do you want to see in the movies?