Based on the Book: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Date Released: December 14, 2012

Screenplay:

The Hobbit was great and much of the praise must go to the screenplay.  It was perfect measures of adventure, action, and the comic relief that lacked a bit in some of the Lord of the Rings movies.  Adding the familiar characters from the previous films was very clever and interesting to see them again.

Acting (list of cast):

Appearance-wise every character looked fantastic!  Way back in the spring of 2012, I watched BBC’s Sherlock and I remember mentioning how Martin Freeman reminded me of a hobbit.  To see him play a hobbit was fantastic and he was simply perfect. 

Editing by Jabez Olssen

Cinematography by Andrew Lesnie:

Middle Earth is visually stunning and it was such a treat to visit there again.  The coloring employed was beautiful.

Sound:

The only huge complaint I have is with the sound.  The score which was created for the Lord of the Rings trilogy was reused for this entire film.  When the sound becomes associated with certain things like Jackson had intended with the Shire theme, it becomes annoying when it is used for something else.  The location themes of Middle Earth were used; however, it was not those sounds which bothered me.  It was the battle scenes and different parts of the previous score that was reused that bothered me.  I associated those sounds with the scenes they were used for in the Lord of the Rings movies and to see them reused at a completely different scene was disorienting. 

I did enjoy their use of the dwarves’ songs.  The melody replayed throughout the film and kept the audience on the path of their quest and why they started out to do this adventure.   

If you are wondering what to see this weekend, you should watch The Hobbit.  It has everything for all ages but may be scary for kids under age 10.  For fans of Lord of the Rings, you definitely do not want to miss out on this one.

Screenplay: 4

Editing: 4

Acting: 4

Cinematography: 5

Sound: 3

Overall: