The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a 2012 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson. It is the first installment in a three-part film adaptation based on J. R. R. Tolkien’s 1937 novel The Hobbit and act as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. An Unexpected Journey is set in Middle-earth sixty years before the main events of The Lord of the Rings, and it tells a story about Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is convinced by the wizard Gandalf, and his company with dwarves goes on on a journey to reclaim the city of Erebor, in the Lonely Mountain, and all its riches from the dragon Smaug. The ensemble cast also includes Ken Stott, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, James Nesbitt, Elijah Wood, and Andy Serkis, and features Sylvester McCoy, Barry Humphries, and Manu Bennett. Originally, Guillermo del Toro, who was chosen to direct the film, however, he left the project in May 2010 and he later chose as a producer instead, while Peter Jackson, who was a director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, was eventually chosen a director in October 2010. The Hobbit was also originally going to be a two-part film, before it was changed into a regular three-part trilogy.

An Unexpected Journey premiered on 28 November 2012 in New Zealand and was released internationally on 12 December 2012, almost nine years after the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The film grossed over $1.017 billion at the box office, surpassing both The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers nominally, becoming the fourth highest-grossing film of 2012. Though An Unexpected Journey received fairly mixed-to-favorable reviews from critics, the film received generally positive reviews from audiences and fans from The Lord of the Rings series and some critical acclaim from fans of The Hobbit book, though the main contention of the debate was regarding the film's length, its controversial High Frame Rate, and whether or not the film matched the level of expectation built from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, while the film's visual style, special effects, music score, and cast were praised, especially the performances of Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, and Andy Serkis. A sequel, The Desolation of Smaug was released, just almost a year after the film was released.

Prologue
Long before Bilbo's involvement, the Dwarf king Thrór brings an era of prosperity for his kin under the Lonely Mountain. Dwarves, elves, and men prosper. The caves under Erebor (a.k.a. the Lonely Mountain), rich in gold and jewels, are mined for an uncountable horde of wealth. The dwarves find the Arkenstone, their most valued jewel, which Thror displays above his throne. The next day, the city of Dale is suddenly attacked by a dragon named Smaug. Destroying much of Dale and makes short work of Erebor's defenses, despite the brave and canny leadership of Thror's grandson Thorin (Richard Armitage). The surviving dwarves flee and Thorin is embittered when their erstwhile ally, the elven king Thranduil, declines to help them, Smaug drives the Dwarves out of their mountain and takes their hoard of gold. Thrór's grandson Thorin sees King Thranduil and his Wood-elves on a nearby hillside and is dismayed when they take their leave rather than aid his people, resulting in Thorin's everlasting hatred of Elves.

Main Story
In the Shire, many years after the destruction of the city of Dale and Erebor cause by the Smaug, a much younger Bilbo Baggins is seen relaxing while smoking, and the wizard named, Gandalf the Grey arrives, and he's looking to enlist the last member of an expedition that's ready to head off on a quest. Bilbo wasn't part of any adventure, but Gandalf has other ideas. As Bilbo sits down to eat the next evening, he is later tricked by the wizard Gandalf the Grey into hosting a dinner for Thorin and his company of Dwarves: Balin, Dwalin, Fíli, Kíli, Dori, Nori, Ori, Óin, Glóin, Bifur, Bofur, and Bombur, Bilbo's finicky neatness is disrupted as they carry all the food out of the pantry, rearrange the furniture, and they went to the dinner table doing songs, drinking, and eating. Gandalf's aim is to recruit Bilbo as the company's "burglar" to aid them in their quest to enter the Lonely Mountain. The dwarves plan to return to Erebor and reclaim their kingdom and their treasure from the dragon. A 13-member expedition invites bad luck, so they wish to hire a fourteenth member, a burglar -- and Gandalf assures them that Bilbo is a first-rate burglar, or will be when the time comes. Gandalf also says that Bilbo will present a slight advantage to the company when infiltrating Smaug's lair; Smaug is not familiar with the scent of a hobbit and Bilbo will be less detectable to the dragon. Bilbo is still unwilling to accept to join the company at first. The next day, Bilbo wakes up, the dwarves have all gone, and deep down he's disappointed he's lost the opportunity of finding an adventure, but he discovers that Thorin has signed the contract in the table room, and after he gives a mere moment, then all of the sudden: Bilbo decides to join the group by signing up on signature paper and he rushes off from his house and he goes on an adventure and he catches up with them on the road.

Bilbo Baggins eventually found his company on a forest road, and he goes over to Gandalf the Grey, and the company signs him up and puts him on a horse and they set off to the Lonely Mountain. They traveled east, through the forests, mountains, cliffs, and grassy hills. That evening, they tell a story about a battle with the trolls. They see a firelight in the distance. They creep closer and discover three large trolls. Bilbo, as the "burglar," is pushed forward to rescue four ponies being kept in a corral. The company is later captured by three trolls during campy, Bilbo stalls the Trolls from eating them until they're forced to surrender when the trolls threaten to rip Bilbo apart. Half the company is tied to a large rotating spit over the troll's fire, the other half are trapped in large sacks. Bilbo stalls for time by telling the trolls the dwarves are infected. Suddenly Gandalf exposes the trolls to sunlight, causing them to turn the trolls to stone. They went into the trolls' cave, realizing that the trolls would have a cave to retreat to in the daytime, and they find the treasure and Elven blades. Thorin and Gandalf each take an Elf-made blade, Orcrist, and Glamdring, respectively; Gandalf also finds an Elven dagger, which he gives to Bilbo. Eventually, one of the dwarves reports the ponies to have all runoff. Radagast the Brown, the wizard who watches over the region, arrives in his rabbit-drawn sleigh. He tells Gandalf it is evil in the forest and in the old abandoned fortress of Dol Guldur. He recounts a fight with a spirit, the Witch-King of Angmar, and gives Gandalf an object wrapped in cloth. The traveling party makes its way across a hilly open area while the orcs chase the brown wizard. However, one orc tracks them down and the fight draws the others. Gandalf leads them into a deep crevice in the rocks before the orcs are driven off by elvish horsemen.

Gandalf leads the company through a hidden passage to Rivendell. There, Lord Elrond discloses a hidden indication of a secret door on the company's map of the Lonely Mountain, which will be visible only on Durin's Day. Thorin, who still wants nothing to do with elves, angrily declares this was Gandalf's plan all along. Elrond appears with his riders and greets Gandalf and the dwarves warmly. Gandalf convinces Thorin to show Elrond the map. Elrond notices secret writing on the map that has to be read on the same calendar day during the same phase of the moon as when it was written, which luckily is that night. Blue letters glow on the map under the moonlight. Elrond translates the instructions on how to find the entrance to the Lonely Mountain. Later, Gandalf meets with Saruman (Christopher Lee), Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), and Elrond. They discuss the mysterious Necromancer and some looming portents of evil. Saruman seems indifferent, saying that the evil spirit was vanquished centuries before and couldn't possibly gain enough power to return, much less materialize again. Gandalf produces the object wrapped in cloth that he received from Radagast: an evil sword, a Morgul blade, that was supposed to have been buried deep in a mountain, The company journeys into the Misty Mountains, where they find themselves amid a colossal battle between Stone Giants. They take refuge in a cave and are captured by Goblins, who take them to their leader, the Great Goblin. Bilbo slips away in the confusion but has to fight alone goblin; the two fall further into the abyss. While the goblins take the dwarves to their king, the Great Goblin. Bilbo, eventually encounters Gollum, who unknowingly drops a golden ring. Pocketing the ring, Bilbo finds himself confronted by Gollum. Bilbo and the dwarves take refuge in a cave. Thorin berates Bilbo again for having to save his life. That night, discouraged, Bilbo prepares to sneak away. Bofur tries to convince him to stay, but Bilbo still feels he isn't prepared for the life of adventure the dwarves are accustomed to. Bilbo becomes separated from the Dwarves and falls into a crevice where he encounters Gollum, who unknowingly drops a golden ring. Pocketing the ring, Bilbo finds himself confronted by Gollum. They play a riddle game, wagering that Bilbo will be shown the way out if he wins or eaten by Gollum if he loses. Bilbo eventually wins by asking Gollum what he has in his pocket. Noticing his ring is lost, Gollum realizes that Bilbo possesses it and chases him. Elsewhere in the goblin caves, the king notices the dwarves' swords and recoils from the sight of Orcrist, known to his people as "Goblin Cleaver." He orders the dwarves killed and sends a message to Azog, giving the location of the dwarves. As the goblins move in, there is a sudden white burst and everyone is stunned. Gandalf appears and urges the dwarves to run. Bilbo has a chance to kill Gollum but relents and just jumps over him. Bilbo also escapes into the daylight, where the goblins can't immediately follow, leaving Gollum, continuing to shouts his hatred towards Bilbo Baggins in rage.

The dwarves make it out to a wooded area and try to rest. Gandalf counts heads and notices Bilbo is missing. However, he suddenly appears and tells Thorin and his company that he does indeed wish to return home, but he will stay with the dwarves because they have no home of their own. Thorin still seems unimpressed, but the rest of the dwarves are relieved that Bilbo has rejoined them. Without warning, Azog and his warg-riders appear and chase the group to the edge of a cliff, where they all climb trees, the company is ambushed by Azog and his hunting party and takes refuge in trees. Bilbo joins in the counterattack, saving Thorin from death. The other dwarves follow. The orcs are gaining the upper hand when a flock of huge eagles arrives and start tossing the orcs off the cliff and carry the dwarves away. Finally, the last tree topples but Gandalf is saved by an eagle. The eagles carry the group to the Carrock, a smaller mountain in the middle of a river that offers them temporary safety. He apologizes for doubting him, saying he couldn't have been more wrong about Bilbo's bravery in battle. In the distance, they see the Lonely Mountain in the distance, and they all stare in awe, realizing they're that much closer to their home.

The film ends in Erebor, A thrush flies toward the gates of the old dwarf redoubt, takes a nut in its beak, and taps it against the stone, causing the Smaug arouses from a pile of gold coins and wakes him up by opening his one eye as the film cuts to black.

Why It's An Unexpected Journey

 * 1) While it is generally not a good start for the The Hobbit trilogy, the film gives off a pretty decent start, as it is still faithful to the novel it is based on. In addition, the film does give of what the Middle Erath really looked like during the events of the Hobbit trilogy, although there are some things that did not follow the book.
 * 2) Martin Freeman does an amazing job as Bilbo Baggins. He gives off a well-solid and nice performance as Bilbo Baggins. His makeup of Bilbo Baggins looks well-done looking, and his performance fits pretty well in The Hobbit trilogy, if not better.
 * 3) *Beside Freeman, Ian McKellen's performance as Gandalf gives a welcome return to Peter Jackson's work, and he still lives up a memeorable character in this trilogy as well.
 * 4) *The performances of Dwarfs, besides Martin, and Ian's performance, are pretty decent, especially for Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, and Ken Stott.
 * 5) Bilbo Baggins in this trilogy, of course, is a likable, and a memorable character in the entire trilogy, and he is one of the best part in the trilogy, even if he wasn't a memorable as Frodo, or Sam in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
 * 6) Even though the tone of this film is controversial, the movie's tone is actually decent and it did match the film's tone, even in The Hobbit-era standards.
 * 7) The film's villains while there are pretty decent, however, Azog the Defiler is a nice and threatening villain that he stays very faithful to the novel of the character of his name, and his plans to steal the treasure of Erebor and take control of the Lonely Mountain for his master.
 * 8) Well done action pack sequences that are very fun to watch and intense, such as Gandalf and his company escapes from Golbin Town while Bilbo Baggin tries to find his way out, and even the edge of the cliff with a tree while trying to get away from Azog.
 * 9) The creature designs in this film are very cool to look at.
 * 10) Once again, Peter Jackson still delivers a very nice direction, based on J. R. R. Tolkien's novel of the same name, like what he did in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
 * 11) Fantastic soundtrack that was composed by Howard Shore, and it retains the spirit from his Middle-Earth soundtrack from the past three Lord of the Rings films. In addition, the film has a special credit goes to "The Misty Mountains Cold" song.
 * 12) The film gives good re-creations from the novel, and the 1977 TV film, such as a flashback of the dragon Smaug, destroying the nearby town of Dale at the beginning of the film.
 * 13) There are some amazing call-backs to the previous trilogy of The Lord of the Rings, such as Bilbo Baggins discovering One Ring from the film The Fellowship of the Ring when he encounters Gollum.
 * 14) Despite the CGI being overused, the CGI, the visuals, cinematography, lighting, and integration of digital and practical effects are amazing, even in the early 2010s standards and the effects are still amazing to look at.
 * 15) * While the film's many battle scenes, vistas, and creatures are undeniably impressive, a very subtle one qualifies too. Saruman may have met and talked with the white council, but Sir Ian McKellen revealed that Sir Christopher Lee wasn't on set at all during filming; all his shots were filmed in England, then spliced in afterwards. Considering how natural his interactions are with the others, it's an impressive achievement.
 * 16) *Gollum and the Goblin King are both incredible achievements in motion capture technology, similar to Gollum’s impact on the technology in 2002. But the real star is Azog, who is on the same level as those two, and whose screentime was all done in 4 weeks!
 * 17) *Smaug's eye opening at the end. Everything about it, from the pupil contracting in the light to the inner eyelid sliding back, is incredibly well-made.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Unfortunately, the film became very controversial, mainly due to the fact regarding the film's length, its controversial High Frame Rate, and whether or not the film matched the level of expectation built from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, and its tone despite being PG-13 rated.
 * 2) There are some parts that didn't follow the novel, such as:
 * 3) *Bilbo being chosen to accompany Gandalf to the Lonely Mountain after the dragon attack seems like a random choice and he may not even be needed considering Bilbo wasn't a burglar and didn't seem particularly worthy.
 * 4) While the CGI is pretty great, the CGI of the film is pretty overused.
 * 5) There are several hit-or-miss humor throughout. In addition, there are some moments that make this film feels more like an uninternational comedy.
 * 6) Unlike Bilbo Baggins, the Gandalf's company the dwarfs are pretty difficult to tell apart, and many of them didn't get much character development.
 * 7) While it is nice to see Frodo Baggins at the beginning of the film, it is not quite necessary because he didn't show any purpose and is mainly there to bring nostalgia to fans of the original trilogy.
 * 8) The film's pacing is quite a mixed bag at best, with the film has some unnecessary scenes that only exist to pad the movie's runtime, example 20 minutes of the dwarfs eating Bilbo's food, Bilbo trying to stop them, and other unnecessary filler before the official "plot" begins, and Gandalf going to Rivendell and having a conversation about future events.

Box Office
An Unexpected Journey grossed $303 million in the United States and Canada and $718.1 million elsewhere for a worldwide total of $1.017 billion, becoming the 15th film in history to reach $1 billion. It is the fourth highest-grossing film of 2012. An Unexpected Journey earned $11.2 million on its opening day (Wednesday, 12 December 2012) from 16 markets. Through its first Sunday, it managed a five-day opening weekend gross of just under $138.0 million. It topped the box office outside North America on two consecutive weekends. In Sweden, it scored the second-largest five-day opening with $6.20 million (behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2). Its three largest openings occurred in the UK, Ireland, and Malta Russia and the CIS ($17.8 million), and Germany ($17.1 million).

Critical Response
An Unexpected Journey premiered on 28 November 2012 in New Zealand and was released internationally on 12 December 2012, almost nine years after the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and it received fairly mixed-to-favorable reviews from critics, The film holds a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 305 reviews, with an average score of 6.50/10. The site's consensus reads "Peter Jackson's return to Middle-earth is an earnest, visually resplendent trip, but the film's deliberate pace robs the material of some of its majesty." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 58/100 based on collected reviews from 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Despite the mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, the film received positive reviews from the audiences, fans of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and some critical acclaim from The Hobbit fans, with an 83% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and 8.0/10 user score rating on Metacritic.

Trivia

 * As said before, Guillermo del Toro, who was originally chosen to direct the film, however, he left the project in May 2010 and he later chose as a producer instead, while Peter Jackson, who was a director of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, was eventually chosen a director in October 2010. Jackson had said that del Toro's sudden exit created problems as he felt he had very little preparation time remaining before shooting had to begin, with unfinished scripts and without storyboards, which increased the difficulty to direct it.
 * During the filming, Martin Freeman is seen flipping off at the camera.

Trailers
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Reviews
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