Film: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

How can anyone think more LOTR a bad thing? Of course all good must come to an end, and the last chapter of the epic (was it really in 2003? Ten years ago?) did make us all want more. Lucky then that there's a whole lot of Middle earth left to cover, including the most awesome The Hobbit prelude.

The thing is, of course, that The Hobbit is a pretty small book. It's certainly not weighty enough to create a triple bill from. And yet this is exactly what we're being given, the size supplemented by stories from other books, and even some scenes plucked from thin air.

Is this a bad thing? Well no, because it is essentially more LOTR greatness, and the more of that we have the better. The acting is sublime, the effects amazing and the sense of scale awe-inspiring. Even the runtime didn't feel like the just-under-three-hours we were all dreading.

But the thing is that this just isn't The Hobbit, and for those who hold this book dear to them (which I'm not saying applies to me), the sense of lost purity might be a little jarring - particularly seeing how good a job was done of the LOTR films.

So as long as the film can be considered more a The Hobbit Remix, I thought it was pretty wonderful. Recommended.