Obligatory Hobbit Reaction Post (Yet Almost No One Else Is Posting?)

I liked the Hobbit movie a lot more than I expected to, which, I suspect, has everything to do with not having read (or fully reread) the book since I was a kid and having little investment in canonicity. I also went in expecting the film to feel bloated and self-indulgent, so I was psychologically set up to be pleasantly surprised. All in all, the almost three hours went by very fast, and I look forward to seeing it again and to seeing the next film.

Below, a good/bad review and some personal reflections. Light spoilers.

The Good
* The acting and casting overall. Some highlights...

Martin Freeman: Perfect as Bilbo. An excellent casting choice and an excellent actor. He didn’t put a furry foot wrong ever.

Ian McKellen as usual.

Ian Holm and Elijah Wood -- not too much to do but good reprises of their characters and a nice bridge between films.

Hugo Weaving! He was too old to play Elrond circa 2000, and as far as I can tell, they air-brushed him for this, which was necessary, but damn... I was never fond of his Elrond in LotR. I found him too dour and disapproving and too limited in emotional range. He undid all that here, striking a really nice balance between impressive and authoritative, but also personable and, well, deep--not in the sense of philosophically deep but in the sense of having deep roots in a long life, of being at ease with himself.

Dwarves: they were all good and nicely differentiated. And nice accents.

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