The necessity to comment has driven me out of lurk-not-post mode for the first time in a long time. Critics be damned - I’d eagerly anticipated this for years, as The Hobbit was probably my favorite book growing up since reading it in jr high, even more so than the LOTR trilogy, so I took my kids (9, 11, 15) to the first showing this afternoon and we LOVED it.
Beautiful cinematography; funny - the dwarf arrival scene was priceless; charming - Bilbo’s demeanor was very well-suited to the book; casting was done well - Thorin especially stood out to me; and while some of the fight scenes required suspension of disbelief - how the dwarves and company could get through Goblin-town without injury let alone surviving the climactic fall had my 11 year old son and I rolling our eyes and laughing a little - overall it was quite an enjoyable adventure. The ring scene with Gollum was, to the best of my recollection, almost verbatum.
My 9 year old daughter, who granted has not read the books and has seen LOTR piece-meal, was not at all enthusiastic about going but left the theater saying “I stand corrected.” The embellishment of Randagast didn’t detract, IMO, and I’ll revisit the book and probably realize that I’ve forgotten enough that other changes didn’t jump out at me, but I do remember enough to feel as though a part of my childhood came to life today. I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen.
Oh and one more thing - the Great Goblin was so nasty he was hard to look at, kind of an orcan Jabba the Hut. :)
It is my favorite fantasy fiction book. I still read it and smile the entire time until after the battle of five armies. I think the movie was great. I don’t agree with The Hobbit being in 3 parts but, I will watch them and read the book again while I wait for the next offering.