I have been waiting for this movie ever since I read The Lord Of The Rings book series, and The Hobbit after it. This was one of those movies which I see on the day it is released, or before, if there is a premiere show. Keeping with the tradition, I waited for the ticket bookings to open and booked a show immediately.
I held high expectations for the movie and even higher hopes. I have always tried not to keep my expectations too high, as they have an unfortunate inclination of never being satisfied. In this case, it was necessary for me to not keep my expectations too high to have enjoyed this movie. Not to say that the movie was disappointing, but it is very difficult to make movies for book readers.
An Expected Journey
The movie delivers what is expected of a Peter Jackson movie. The screenplay is paced evenly and along with the visuals, it keeps you engrossed in the story for almost three hours. Shire and Rivendell are as beautiful as ever and the treasures under the mountain are just like I imagined. Smaug, the dragon, is hardly shown on screen, saving it mostly for the second part in this trilogy – The Desolation of Smaug. But what is shown of Smaug in this movie is awesome. The sequences under the mountain, where Bilbo finds the ring, are stunning. Particularly, the emotions of Gollum and Bilbo as they struggle for the ring and escape is breath-taking.
The movie is usually compared to The Lord of the Rings series of movies and as expected, it misses out. Personally, I don’t see this movie as an epic adventure at all. It is just a small story that started it all, and for that, the movie is quite well made and entertaining. The movie plays out more like a Jackie Chan movie, especially in later parts, but keeping the feel of middle earth.
All in all, I don’t have any complaints with the movie. It was an entertaining start and sets the stage for two more coming up. I did wish it would have done more than that. In any case, the movie is entertaining as it could have been expected from Peter Jackson.
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