Peter Jackson returns after completed his franchise of The Lord of the Rings, which are my favorite movies of all time, he returns to Middle Earth to direct The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which, like the next two Hobbit movies, are prequel to The Lord of the Rings. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey may not be as good as The Lord of the Rings, but is a great trip back to Middle Earth.

So The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, set 60 years before the events of The Lord of the Rings, is about when a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins(Martin Freeman) is convinced by Gandalf the Grey(Ian McKellen) to go on this journey with thirteen dwarves led by Thorin Oakenshield(Richard Armitage) to reclaim the dwarve's home back from Smaug the Dragon.

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins owns the role of Bilbo. He was better than Ian Holms in The Lord of the Rings, and I liked Ian Holms. He was just as how I imagined Bilbo Baggins as I was reading the book and is the only Bilbo that I want to know. He's likeable, he is fun and he is the underdog of the film and you are rooting for him in this film. Gandalf the Grey returns in this film, as in the last two Lord of the Rings film he was Gandalf the White, and he is more badass than he was in those films (except when he fought the Balrog of Mordath, no one can replace that). One character that some people may find annoying is Radaghast the Brown. I think he was potrayed well, he was just like that in the universe of Tolkien.

We may not get to know all of the dwarves of the movie, but the one that stands out is Thorin Oakenshield. He was everything that I wanted from him when I read the book. Richard Armitage potrayed him perfectly. All of the other dwarves, even though they may not be that important, were all well potrayed. Like in the book, the dwarves are all underdeveloped except Thorin.

One of the things that I liked from this film is how accurate the movie is to the book. Everything that was in the section of the book that An Unexpected Journey is about was in it. Even the songs that the dwarves sing in the book are in this. The wolves, trolls, goblins, orcs and the Riddles of the Dark segment that was in the book was in this film.

Speaking of which, The Riddles in the Dark segment, in which Gollum(Andy Serkis) and Bilbo play a game of riddles, and in which Bilbo finds the Ring(not a spoiler, as it is mentioned in LOTR) is easily the best scene in the film, as it was my favorite part in the book also. It is also the The scene was intense, dark, gritty, and it was also fun trying to solve all of the riddles. From that moment on in the film is just non stop action until the end of the film

One of the complaints that I have about this film is that this movie is far too long than it needs to be. Yes, Lord of the Rings is long, but the length is fine for that film. This one however is 20-30 minutes long. After 45 minutes of the movie, they start thier journey. After that, the movie picks up substantially and makes the film get better and better. The movie also has moments that I think were going to be in the extended edition that they added in this film. The reason it bums me out is that I think that they did that for they could make it into a trilogy instead of two films like it was supposed to be. Another fact is that if you never liked Lord of the Rings, this isn't the movie that will win you over. But it is still a great ride back to Middle Earth.

The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey introduced a new way of technology named Higher Framed Rate, in which the film is in 48fps, compared to the standard 24fps that films are made in. This new format of the film was strange and VERY distracting. This format also make the things that are fake or CGI makes it look really fake. It also makes things very realistic, in which it became a distraction. Gollum, however, was great in 48fps. See it in the regular format, like it was supposed to be made.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey may not be as good as The Lord of the Rings, but it has all of the elements that made Lord of the Rings great. Well thought out, well executed, and a strong performance of Martin Freeman, Peter Jackson's return to Middle Earth is not only great, but it is BLU-RAY WORTHY.