By Thomas Hair
Opinions Editor

It has been over a decade since Frodo Baggins defeated Sauron and the Ring to the amazement of moviegoers worldwide, magnificently concluding Peter Jackson’s mission to translate Tolkien’s written masterpiece The Lord of the Rings into visual masterpiece.

As universally acclaimed as Jackson’s films turned out to be, directing The Lord of the Rings wasn’t his dream job. As early as 1995, Jackson aspired to oversee an adaptation of its prequel, The Hobbit, but was barred from doing so by incessant copyright restrictions…until now.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of three movies in the planned Hobbit trilogy, was released to long-deprived Tolkien fans on Dec. 15. The storyline is simple: a simple hobbit named Bilbo Baggins must accompany thirteen dwarves as they journey across Middle-Earth to reach The Lonely Mountain to defeat the dragon Smaug and reclaim the dwarves’ lost empire – facing many trials and tribulations along the way. An Unexpected Journey tells the first third of this tale. It has been nine years since Middle-Earth last graced the silver screen, but Jackson effectively recaptures the essence of the beloved fictional world in The Hobbit.

There has been a surprising amount of negative buzz from critics thus far – more than there ever was for Lord of the Rings. While I loved the movie as a whole, not all of these complaints are unfounded. A few small problems prevent this movie from being placed in the same untouchable tier as the original trilogy.

While the special effects are mostly commendable, I found Jackson’s use of CGI animation superfluous at times. For example, when Bilbo discovers Gollum’s ring on the cave floor, it is blatantly obvious that the ring is CGI. It looks fake. It would be much easier to simply film a real ring falling to the floor. Likewise, many small set pieces – such as the animals – that were filmed live in LOTR are converted to CGI animation for The Hobbit. Call me old fashioned, but I savor the realistic feel these aspects of the original series have.

Furthermore, as any super-fan of a book series will do when it is adapted to film, I could not help but notice and protest a few departures Jackson made from the original story.

First of all, someone needs to tell Jackson The Hobbit is not The Lord of the Rings. They are two different tales with a completely different mood and atmosphere to them. The Hobbit is written for a younger audience and has much more of a lighthearted feel to it, which failed to carry over to the movie.

There is also a sharp contrast between how the character of Thorin Oakenshield is presented in the book and the movie. In the book, he is a bumbling oaf with no real aspiration to be a leader, but in the movie he is presented as the savior of the Dwarves, a mighty warrior and fierce leader. While I understand the need to have a bold male hero of some sort in the film, it does not settle well with those who were used to the Thorin from the books.

Small complaints aside, there is much about An Unexpected Journey to fall in love with.

The fabulous landscapes, such as the elf city of Rivendell and the Lonely Mountain, immerse the viewer into Middle-Earth and inspire imaginations. The visuals are extremely well-done, exceeding the predecessors in terms of crispness and quality. The action sequences are equally impressive and surprisingly creative at times.

The movie is almost three hours long and covers only one-third of the book, which means that Jackson is able to pack in almost every shred of content that Tolkien included in the book. With only a few exceptions, Jackson is extremely faithful to the book – pleasing loving fans of the novel such as myself. It’s thrilling to see classic scenes such as “The Three Trolls” faithfully executed before your eyes.

Martin Freeman portrays the titular hobbit Bilbo Baggins almost perfectly. Bilbo’s gradual transition from an unwilling participant to a brave hero is captured perfectly in this film. As great as Freeman is in the role, the show is stolen by Andy Serkis as Gollum. His 15-minute scene, basically a cameo, is brief but brilliant as always. His unnerving mannerisms and haunting voice (“My precious…”) will stick in the viewer’s head long after they’ve left the theater.

However, what I love most about An Unexpected Journey was something I don’t usually take into much consideration when reviewing a film: the soundtrack. I was pleasantly surprised that Jackson included two of the Dwarvish songs from the book. The dark, sorrowful dirge of “Misty Mountains” sung by deep dwarvish voices sent chills down my spine. The symphonic overtures that accompanied the dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf as they traversed mountainous terrain, fled Orcs and escaped the Stone Giants can only be described with one word: epic. I was humming the tunes from The Hobbit for the rest of the day.

An Unexpected Journey is an epic adventure that will leave audiences spellbound with its blend of mesmerizing landscapes, powerful music, heart-pounding action and compelling characters while staying true to its source material at the same time. Its slightly overlong nature, occasional repetitiveness and other small errors prevent it from being in the same league as its predecessors, but it is a worthy addition to the Tolkien legacy all the same.

Rating: A-