An Unexpected Hobbit

Well after all the waiting (I booked tickets back in the middle of November, oh yes precious we didsies) The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was unveiled to me and my friend Zoe today and it did not disappoint.  Crammed full of deadly orcs, villianous goblins, monstrous wargs and sizzling irishmen and the delectible Cate Blanchett, the film rollops along with all the fun and excitement of any of the sequel films.  One must not think of the Hobbit as a lesser work merely because it came first and it's not as long, the book crams its plot into its pages, so there's more than enough to go around for the duration this the first installment of the trilogy.  I don't want to go into too many spoilers here but there's something in this for die-hard LOTR fans as well as the newcomers.  Plus the fantastic scenary is a visual banquet for the eyes, much is made of the locations, there's a real sense of connection between the journey of Thorin's company and the one the Fellowship travelled upon, indeed much effort is made to link them up whenever possible, from Hobbiton to Rivendell there is a sense of homecoming for me as a fan of the Ring trilogy.  That said Hobbit has its own identity, it's own tone and it's own story to tell.  Much effort is made to recreate Gollum, one of the highlights of LotR, although here we see perhaps a happier Gollum, more care free and even happy and yet the danger of the character is never far away.  The ending of the first installment was more or less where I felt it might be after re-reading the book last month.  There's still so much of the journey to go and unlike our heroes I don't think the worst is behind them...