- The look and feel of Middle-earth is spot on. This is true of all 6 of PJ's Middle-earth movies. It's a testament to the hard work and great vision of all associated with the movie.
- Howard Shore's score is exceptional as well; much of this first track sounds similar to what we heard in LOTR but the journey's are similar.
- There were lots of great moments that referenced LOTR movies (perhaps too many for some?):
- Returning cast: Ian Mckellan, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, and Ian Holm
- Same Shire set
- Weathertop
- The Troll Shaws
- Gandalf lighting fireworks at a hobbit party
- The list goes on...
- There were lots of great book moments or nods to Tolkien's writing:
- The unexpected party was done very well
- Loved seeing Dol Guldur
- References to Gondolin, the Blue Wizards, Ungoliant, etc
- Overall I give PJ tons of credit for this first stage of Bilbo's journey is essentially the same as Frodo's to the point of Rivendell. That is a huge challenge and the movies have a different feel even though they are essentially covering the same ground.
- The tone of the movie was pretty good. The Hobbit is certainly lighter fair than LOTR and there is a silly, light-hearted, feel thus far as there should be.
- A lot of feedback concerning AUJ is that is was too slow, I've heard some of may own friends say it, but there was a ton of context that needed to laid as foundation for the rest of the journey:
- Who the Dwarves are--are they characters we can care about?
- Motivation for retaking the Mountain
- Dwarven/Elvish hostilities
- Smaug taking Erebor
- Dwarven/Orc Wars (including Azog)
- Into to Dol Guldur and the Necromancer element
My overall impression is very favorable. There was not a lot that gave me issue during this first disc. It was nearly as I would have imagined it to be. There are a few areas I imagined differently, would have liked explained more, or left me scratching my head and I'll address those in my next post.
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