Tomatometer Watch: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

also ... its crazy because they are making 3 movies based on one book ... and the first one is already almost 3 hours long ... how is it that you need 3 movies each most likely to be 2 and a half to 3 hours long, for one book? its like they want to leave no detail out and for all that, they might as well have done that for the harry potter films ...have 3 films for each book. but then that would take forever and by the time you finish filming the last film those harry potter kids will be 40

Dec 8 - 03:59 AM

Jonathon Smith

you think the 72% is low you should check out imbd. its in the 60's.

Dec 8 - 04:16 AM

Chris Zulakis

imdb always has insanely low reviews on their site. Some of the best movies ever made are stuck in 7.5 limbo on IMDB

Dec 8 - 04:34 PM

Jonathon Smith

anyone hear Disney is bought Lucasfilms and is making another Star Wars trilogy

Dec 8 - 04:35 AM

David Tanny

This news is a month old.

Dec 8 - 11:25 AM

Apoorv Burke

i think this is going to be a great movie. Having read the book, it wont be as epic ad Lord of the rings, but that's okay and complaining about the frame rate isn't necessarily a complaint about the movie. it's still a trip back to Middle Earth and that is a welcome thought

Dec 8 - 04:39 AM

Marissa Evans

Actually, it was very epic! When people say a lighter tone, they're referring to some light-hearted moments, the same way Gimili and Legolas or Merry and Pippin were the comic relief in LotR. But the fact that there's more of it establishes the film as overall more light than LotR (I found this a good thing; sometimes I felt Gimili's humourous moments were a little out of place when Frodo was wandering around all broody.) Ultimately, I thought it was much more balanced in that sense than it was in Fellowship.

Dec 9 - 03:36 PM

Matt Williams

Lol most of the bad reviews are full of complaints about the film's story not being as epic as LOTR. Have any of these people actually read the Hobbit? Did you expect Peter Jackson to change the whole story for you? It is a children's book so I'm not really sure why everyone is expecting it to be as epic as LOTR. The hobbit is a simple story of adventure and I'm sure that is what the movie is so stop rating in terms of "it's not as good as LOTR."

Dec 8 - 07:01 AM

Marissa Evans

Well said! My thoughts exactly. It stays very true to the original book, and I think those who are familiar with the book will love it. They shouldn't be comparing so directly (even though Peter does make an effort to add some elements of LotR, which was very nice of him.)

Plus, to be fair, they'll probably adapt a darker tone in the sequels. From what I remember, the book takes a shift in tone about midway through.

Dec 9 - 03:38 PM

Matt Williams

Yeah I'm sure this one is just a little slow moving at first because they are setting everything up. The sequels will probably be closer in tone LOTR.

Dec 11 - 01:13 PM

Jamie Evans

This movie never had a chance. You could argue that there has never been more anticipation or pressure on any other film. That said, it is still about 3 out of 4 stars. 70+ percent tomato meter rating is not to bad considering almost every critic went in with clouded judgment.

Dec 8 - 07:42 AM

Choocnut Nut

.. it's so disappointing that people are judging a movie based on the critics. yes, this website might be all about critics, but that's all there is to it, it's only an opinion of a certain person. his preference might be different than yours. so it's better to just watch the movie and judge it for yourself.

Dec 8 - 08:24 AM

Zac Leon

Amen!

Dec 8 - 08:28 AM

Zac Leon

Absolutely unfazed. My anticipation for this film is not mired by a snobby 'It had better be good' attitude. I love Middle-earth, I love the Hobbit, I greatly respect the people involved, and only a significant lack in effort or inspiration would ruin the experience. In the end, when it comes to how enjoyable or 'good' a story, or any work of art, is, the only critic whose opinion should mean anything to you is yourself.

Dec 8 - 08:26 AM

Jacob Crites

I'm just hoping the movie captures the more whimsical, silly tone of the book; I found the original trilogy a bit too serious after they left the Shire. I'm reading a lot of criticism about the fact that much of the first hour takes place during the Unexpected Dinner scene...honestly, that sounds kind of wonderful to me :)

Dec 8 - 08:56 AM

Curtis Van Impe

you should also remove any review that says its disappointing in comparison to LOTR. The film should be reviewed on its own merit, not on LOTR's. Just because it isn't as good as LOTR doesn't mean it isn't good.

Dec 8 - 09:07 AM

Matt Jordan

Reviews don't matter, at least not to me. i say this...JAR JAR...are you kidding me. I wonder how many of these idiots have read the book. How in any way shape or form can you compare Radagast to Jar Jar. Idiot. As for making it 3, I'm excited. If you have read the book there is a lot of content that get rushed through, I'm looking forward to see some of these things fleshed out. And again, there wasn't a lot of tension in The Hobbit so why should there be tension in the movie. It is not LOTR folks, it's just set in the same world. Stop comparing the two.

Dec 8 - 09:49 AM

Choocnut Nut

.. actually, making it into three movies gives the book justice. The events of the Battle of The Five Armies is worthy of one full movie.

Dec 8 - 11:30 AM

Marissa Evans

Agreed. And when you see the movie, you'll totally understand why they split it up the way they did. I really do love the climax of this movie and the way it drew a certain story arc to an end (not to close it of course; there's always room for more). It's brilliantly told, and even those who do want more LotR will be very satisfied. :) As long as they remember it's NOT LotR.

Dec 9 - 03:40 PM

Brady Gorman

I don't get it. A lot of the criticism was given towards things critics were praising to high heaven a decade ago. Many are saying it's long with little action and a lot of dialogue and exposition, but wasn't the Fellowship of the Ring like that as well? And they were calling it the greatest fantasy film of all time!

Dec 8 - 12:12 PM

Parham Abrari

look there are three things that all Should Consider:
Watch the movie on 24 frames if you don't like 48 frames.there are people who wrote about this 4 pages..poooofffff
2.Do not compare it to Lord of the Rings ever as jackson said do not compare it..
3.so it's long do you have any problem?

Dec 8 - 12:21 PM

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Dec 8 - 12:22 PM

Kevin Rimney

If it's a three hour movie that should only be a two hour movie then people have reason to complain. I think with Rings Jackson had to leave a lot out so with Hobbit he's going to add too much additional material to pad it out.

Dec 8 - 02:20 PM

Ser Galgey

The way people are talking about it, it sounds like it's getting awful reviews. 73% is pretty good and the general consensus seems to be 'not as good as LOTR, but still pretty good, if a little slow at the start' which is EXACTLY what I was expecting.

Dec 8 - 03:37 PM

Roxie Washing

Regardless of reviews, the movie will be a Box office SMASH. The problem to start with is that No matter who directed it or filmed it or what type of format they used. These movies will forever be compared to RINGS. Even some critics complained that it had too much humor or too jolly. The Hobbit is after all is much lighter than rings. All of the critics pretty much agree though that the movie is good & work the ticket price it is just that the this 1st movie isn't as good as RINGS.

I do think that Jackson & company will go back & probably re-edit part II. He did say that the movies are all done. However, I do see them going over & fixing maybe some of the issues that the critics talked about. Count on this though. The Hobbit will be a box office smash

Dec 8 - 05:14 PM

Marissa Evans

I don't know if they'll need to. The book takes a shift in tone midway through and becomes more like Lord of the Rings. Even if you look at the LotR trilogy, this same thing happens. The first is much sillier with characters like Merry and Pippin having their comic relief moments, as with Gimili and Legolas. So I don't think the critics will be complaining about the sequels as much as they are this one, since it'll go back to feeling like the LotR they apparently know and love.

Dec 9 - 03:50 PM

George Buttner

Hmm... part of the requirement of certified Fresh is having a certain number of top critics rate it as fresh. Right now, only one of out five top critics gave it fresh, for a stupefyingly low 20% fresh amongst top critics.

Dec 8 - 05:52 PM