I went in to the Hobbit with low expectations. I mean, the fact that Jackson was making three movies out of this book made me skeptical, although I was a bit reassured by the fact that they were bringing in Appendices material.
But coming out of the theater my hope for these movies had been renewed. There were a few things that were jarring- the CGI animals and goblins were very obviously CGI, which was disappointing after having real live orcs in LOTR. Some of the plot elements were a bit wonky, namely the whole Thranduil-isn't-cool thing and also that Bilbo doesn't really earn the dwarves' trust until after Mirkwood, so that was a bit rushed here. However, what really made me love this movie were the sets. The sets! Fantastic artistry. The costumes were pretty classy as well. And although I think not many might agree with me, I rather liked Radagast- I thought he was portrayed perfectly, considering canonically he's the wizard who was sort of snuck onto Middle Earth with the others to look after the animals instead of the humanoid life forms, because that's what he's good at and that's what he's most concerned with. Beyond that, it was lovely to see all the old cast members again, and start to get to know the new ones (Martin Freeman is a perfect Bilbo Baggins). Stepping back into Middle Earth couldn't have been better, and I am looking forward to the next installment in the saga!

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