Opened: December 14, 2012

Directed by: Peter Jackson

Starring: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, Aidan Turner, Dean O’Gorman, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Peter Hambleton, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Ian Holm, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, Sylvester McCoy, Andy Serkis, Manu Bennett, Barry Humphries, Conan Stevens, John Rawls, Bret McKenzie, Kiran Shah, Jeffrey Thomas, Stephe Ure, Michael Mizrahi, Lee Pace & Benedict Cumberbatch

An Unexpected Journey, the first in The Hobbit trilogy, has a lengthy runtime and drawn-out scenes, but the action and performances will hold your attention.

Old Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) begins writing of his past adventure where Gandalf (Ian McKellen) summoned his younger self (Martin Freeman) to join a quest with a group of dwarves to reclaim the Lonely Mountain.

Though 15 main characters feels like a lot to keep track of, the 13 dwarves are all unique in looks and personalities, which makes it easy to differentiate them. McKellen is as great as ever as Gandalf – returning from The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

However, CGI advancements have allowed for many characters to become renderings instead of costumed like they were in the previous series, which makes the fake-ness stand out.

Final say: A long start to the journey. ★★★★☆