An Unexpected Journey begins with a hauntingly familiar theme*, leading into a prologue that could have been a missing scene from The Fellowship of the Ring. There is a clever segue to make it clear that Martin Freeman is playing a younger version of Ian Holm’s Bilbo from The Lord of the Rings films.

I was at a midnight showing in a not terribly populated area, and yet there were six, count ’em six, showings (including 2D, 3D, and HFR 3D) in that first half hour. Judging by the crowds, all of them were sold out, too.

The novel The Hobbit was written before The Lord of the Rings –it is a simpler, lighter story. In adapting it the screen, Peter Jackson faced the dual challenge of handling a prequel after a successful sequel and trying to please both fans of the original material and fans of the previous movies. Not an easy task, by any means.
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