
I loved the original Lord of the Rings films. Like many I was puzzled on why they never tried to make a movie based on The Hobbit which was the original book set before Lord of the Rings. After the Lord of the Rings movies were finished, there were talks of perhaps making a Hobbit movie but nothing happened. Now almost a decade later they decided to do so, though it’s now going to be a trilogy.

The film starts out in the Shire as Bilbo Baggins is writing to his nephew Frodo about his adventures in his youth. It then goes back 60 years where Gandalf The Grey first meets the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. He informs the hobbit that he must help a group of Dwarves to reclaim their kingdom which was taken by a mighty dragon.

Despite some hesitation, he agrees and they all set out for the long quest. However the journey will be difficult as danger lurks around every corner. A group of Orcs are hunting the group in revenge of an earlier war, dark forces are slowly taking over the forest, and they encounter more foes than friends.

Overall I enjoyed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey but I’m really wishing they had just made two movies instead of this trilogy. The Lord of The Rings had to make unfortunate cuts, but this one ironically adds more to the story like Gandalf meeting with Saruman and Elrond. I will of course see the next two movies, but I didn’t enjoy this (at least this first piece) as much as the Lord of the Rings movies.