By Chris Worcester

So I have seen this movie twice already if that is any indication of how I feel about it.  I was grateful for the day off on Friday because it freed me up to recover after attending the midnight showing.
Some basic plot summary…the film is about a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. He is a quiet, peace-loving hobbit who is approached by a wizard called Gandalf the Grey to help 13 dwarves get their gold back after it was stolen by a dragon called Smaug. Along the way he meets trolls, elves, goblins, wargs, orcs, and the creature called Gollum.
So how good was it?   First, the acting. The acting in this movie is superb.  Despite a few dwarves who barely have a personality,  the other major players seem to really have become these characters.  The best acting comes from Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakensheild, Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Ian McKellen as Gandalf, and Andy Serkis as Gollum.
The movie really takes its time with the story and that allows for a lot of the book to be kept in. However, the story takes a bit to get started and when I say that I mean it.  The first the minutes were backstory and then there was five minutes of Bilbo and Frodo which were completely pointless and awkward if you’ve never seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Now the action is one of the strong points of the movie but there is not a lot of it. However, when there is action, it’s amazing. Everything feels real and is very entertaining.
My least favorite parts were the scenes with Bilbo and Frodo. Those should have been in the extended edition because they serve no purpose. What’s the point of them if the Lord of the Rings has already been made? The best part is the Gollum scene. It is hilarious and entertaining.
Overall the movie is fantastic and starts out the development of a trilogy of movies to complement the novel The Hobbit well.  You should see it over Christmas break.