1. Shorter Length
It was a complaint that's almost too easy to make, but An Unexpected Journey is too damn long. There was no need for it to run 169 minutes, but Jackson, who now seems incapable of making a film that runs less than 130-minutes or so, appears to revel in directing these opulent, excessively long films that suffer from poor pacing. It's as though Jackson is so much of a perfectionist that he doesn't know what needs to be cut, so perhaps he's really in need of a more judicious editor, but whatever the reason, The Hobbit has more than a few moments where it really sags. While we're going to expect another 150-160 minute Hobbit film for The Desolation of Smaug, Jackson would do well to pare things down, save the excess material for home video, get rid of the goofy humour, and find a better balance between lengthy set-pieces and expository dialogue. If the director can do that, then he'll have a work on his hands that will far exceed An Unexpected Journey. Jackson has a year in the edit suite, so hopefully he'll be able to use this film's criticisms and fine-tune Part 2 for a more rewarding experience. Otherwise, The Hobbit trilogy may well be doomed to become resolutely average and a mere footnote to Jackson's Best Picture-winning glory. What's your take on The Hobbit's reception so far? Let us know in the comments below.