I had the pleasure of attending a preview screening of: The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey.
Of course, as expected, the film had epic music, beautiful graphics, and superb acting. The attention to details in the film is at times, breathtaking. I had the pleasure of seeing it in 3-d. Most 3-d films leave you saying: “Wow, there were a few cool effects, but not much more.” This was not the case here at all. The 3-d effects were continuous in this film and greatly enhanced the viewing experience. I would definitely spend the extra couple of dollars per ticket if you are paying for a ticket anyway- it was well worth it.
Content Review:
If you are a book lover, then this series is surely on your list. The filmmakers took many liberties in the making on this film- not entirely unexpected. There are whole new scenes, but they were really well done and expanded well upon the author’s original intent, so I did not find this troublesome, but for a die-hard Tolkien fan (my daughter) it could be a bit unnerving. She would lean over during the film and say, “THIS WAS NOT IN THE BOOK!” Which cracked me up. I have, of course read the book, but not over and over as she has, and certainly not in the last decade. If you read it over and over like she does, prepare yourself! There are always liberties in filmmaking, and this one is not an exception.
We loved the movie. I would strongly caution those of you with younger children- this is a violent film and has many disturbing images. It is one thing to read a book and imagine your own creatures, but, just like the other films in the series, these creatures are vividly made and very realistic. They are gruesome, scary, and downright frightening at times. I would not let my younger children see this film, even the ones old enough to read the books. There were no cuss words whatsoever, and absolutely no sexual content. For family-friendliness, I would say if your family is all 13 and up- it will be a good film, assuming the violent scenes are not to your disliking.
We have several movie posters, activity books and book marks to giveaway in the upcoming weeks. If your child is attending the OCHE teen viewing of The Hobbit here in Louisville, that will be the next chance to get one of these for yourself. We have already had giveaways at the Meijer Chess Tournament, as well as at Woodland Enrichment program here locally.
