Peter Jackson's film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit could have been many things. At first conceived as a stand-alone movie before he tackled The Lord Of The Rings, the idea of making it as a prequel to the epic trilogy slowly emerged in the decade after. Originally split into two films and with Guillermo Del Toro attached as director it looked set to be something rather different to what audiences were accustomed to from Middle Earth. That was until Del Toro left the project and Jackson returned, boosting the number of films to three. This very public production meant the first in the now-trilogy, An Unexpected Journey, was met with rather critical eyes. Although it has its staunch defenders who would claim its up there with The Lord Of The Rings, the general feeling is The Hobbit is a lacklustre entry in the Middle Earth canon. We'd say the truth is somewhere in the middle; watch it again, without high expectations and the two films released thus far emerge as perfectly competent blockbusters. Is The Hobbit as good as The Lord Of The Rings? Of course not. Does that make them bad movies? Nope. Of all the films to come out on the wave of The Lord Of The Ring's success (The Golden Compass, The Chronicle Of Narnia), The Hobbit is predictably the best. And today we give you ten overlooked positives that should make you, if you've dimissed it in the past, give it a second chance.
Honourable Mention - The Extended Edition Actually Improves The Film
It may seem an odd concept given how stretched the film felt, but Peter Jackson's trademark Extended Edition for An Unexpected Journey is actually better than the theatrical version. The added thirteen minutes are all contextual, but they serve to add more characterisation to the dwarves, something the original film was sorely lacking. Here's hoping the version for The Desolation Of Smaug is an improvement of equal level.
