When I was 12, I tried to read The Hobbit but I could not get interested in the first part of the book. As an adult I went back to read it: I still had to press through the beginning to get into the good part.
With the first of 3 planned Hobbit movies, director Peter Jackson has made a 2:50 movie out of... the first part of the book. 113 pages into its own movie. And to watch the movie, you'd be hard pressed to identify all the action that he discovered in the book.
Actually that's an exaggeration. The movie has a very Harry Potter feel about it. In fact the character that riddles with Bilbo is straight out of Harry Potter 2. That's not a bad thing. Lots of action. It was refreshing to not see lots of gun violence, but there was still swordplay and armies streaming off cliffs. More cartoonish at most.
Interesting, a theme of the Hobbit is the British pre-WW I isolationism and how going off to war changed a whole generation in England. In that vein, the desire/action of Bilbo Baggins to go on this unexpected journey makes him a bit more heroic.
Looking forward to part 2, the Desolation of Smaug.
By the way, the book turned out to be very good.
* * * of 4
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