The day before seeing 'An Unexpected Journey' was one of the most exciting days of my life! I'm 18 years old, so when I first saw the 'Lord of the Rings' Trilogy, I was only around 8-10 years old and hadn't read any of Tolkien's works. Since then, I've become a huge fan, and have over the years spent as much time as I could collecting as much knowledge as possible, so going into the movie I had in my mind what I wanted to see. When the credits of the 48fps rolled, I had very mixed feelings.

Acting:

It felt very nostalgic being back in Middle Earth and throughout the film I was never bored. I thought that the dwarves did a brilliant job making the characters their own, and that all the old members (i.e. Ian McKellen, Hugo Weaving and Andy Serkis) all slipped back into their roles with great ease and a lot of make-up. Of course though, the protagonist of the movie, Bilbo Baggins, was my main concern walking into the theater, but it didn't take long till I found myself in awe of Martin Freeman's performance. A lot of people slated Sylvester McCoy's part in the movie and have gone as far to say he ruined the movie. I have to say i don't agree with this at all! I thought that his representation of Radagast the Brown was spot on and I personally cannot fault it (the rabbits were awesome-deal with it!). Overall, I found the acting in this movie to be collectively brilliant ,and yes Fili, of course there is a door (*facepalm *).

48fps/CGI:

As stated before, I saw this movie in 48fps, and for me I thought this was a bold move by Peter Jackson, but overall it was a very unique experience! The movement was so smooth and it made the outstandingl beauty of New Zealand even more dazzling. My only complaint was the CGI. At some parts, when seeing Azog and the goblins in 48fps, it made them look very fake, along with certain landscapes that were put in through green/blue screen. I definitely think that this is a step into the future of filming, and later when i saw the movie in 24fps, all ofl these complaints were corrected, to my relief!

Tolkien Lore

This movie, being nearly three hours long had a lot of extra information and stories that were not written in 'The Hobbit', but happened during the quest of Erebor. For example; Dol Guldur and The Necromancer, Radagast the Brown, and The White Council, as well some references to Tolkien lore (i.e. the creation of Golf). For a huge fan, seeing these scenes coming to life on the big screen was very enjoyable and also showed people who never knew of these tales that J.R.R Tolkien didn't just write books - he wrote the story of a world and its history. The only thing that really ticked me off was the story of the Witch King of Angmar being buried, because, well it never happened and I really don't understand why Peter Jackson would put this in, unless, in some way, it references something that happens later in the trilogy. But until we know for sure it will keep annoying me!

Favorite Scenes:

-Opening scene: the Destruction of Dale and of the fall of Erebor
-Bag End
-Gollum and Bilbo: Riddles in the dark
-Anything with Radagast the Brown

Least Favorite Scenes:

-Escaping from the mountain
-Battle between Thorin and Azog + no talking Eagles (AGAIN)
-Lack of Tom Bombadil - even though he shouldn't be there, I think they should have given him a cameo for the fans

Walking out of the cinema both times, I felt very mixed feelings, but after a while I realised that overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and that expecting perfection for my point of view was folly. Peter Jackson and his team could never please everyone, but I think that they did a brilliant job and I can't wait for the 'Desolation of Smaug' and to see how they show it on the big screen!

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