"Far over the misty mountains cold . . ." This mysterious song begins to tug at the simple hobbit's heart to draw him away into adventure.

The "hobbit" is meant to be each one of us in our cozy arm chair at home. We are the hobbits that need an adventure. Tolkien sets up this story with the reader feeling close to the little spoiled hobbit and at home with the hobbit. The shire is not some mysterious far off place but home for us.

But Peter Jackson begins this film with all sorts of wars and flashbacks for 12 minutes before you sit in the shire and feel . . . not at home, not an affinity with Mr. Baggins. Unless that first moment of connection happens, you will not care about what is far over the misty mountains cold. Your heart, like Bilbo's, must be longing to know what the adventure will bring or it will be completely underwhelming. Bilbo does not care and neither does the viewer because the shire does not feel like home, but an ugly set (filmed on a rainy day they tried really hard to cover up) and Bilbo a guy who likes to be alone and probably not our friend at all.

In a word, Peter Jackson loses his audience from the get go. I do not long to away er break of day, but I know the adventure will be shoved down my throat! And then it is!

Does Jackson think that Tolkien fans are idiots? The common idiot who is happy with a razzle dazzle CGI action movie? If so, then he is the idiot.

I watched with joy every single video blog he put out and hoped beyond hope that he actually cared about Tolkien's material in the Hobbit and portraying it in a way that would capture the audience in Bilbo's experience. But alas he fails so miserably that I am ashamed to think I expected more from him than a George Lucas "give me millions of dollars" movie.

But I hope beyond hope that Tolkien fans are a little more self thinking and critically minded - capable of realizing that there is a great disconnect between this film and true Tolkien. Alas, again, I look at the reviews on theonering.net and wonder if people can think anymore or if the Marxist agenda of feeding everyone's passions and then manipulating their minds has finally won over. (i.e. Preferring graphics over character development or authenticity?)

This film did not work. From start to finish. I am astounded to think I agree with film critics whom I usually cannot stand. I wanted it to work so badly.

From the moment Bilbo Baggins leaves the shire, Peter you lost me because you lost a grip on the storyline. I don't care enough about cgi to care about the rest of the three movies. I am a hobbit waiting to connect with Bilbo and did not.

I will alas read Tolkien again and enjoy Tolkien and leave Peter Jackson to the ravenous film critic wargs and the new generation of brainless cgi action lovers.

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