Movie review for the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Over the weekend I got to go see the first of three Hobbit flicks and I must say, this was amazing.  I can't say enough good things about this flick.  Seriously amazing.  Lets begin with the good:

• The dwarves dont' look like fools!  Anyone who has talked to me about the movie knows one of the few things I feared was how goofy the dwarves looked on the poster and the trailers.  I mean they looked horrible I though.  Way to cartoony after Gimli looked just perfect.  The big screen makes them look good.  Bombur would be the one exception and that is only because of the stupid beard he has.  Besides that the dwarves all looked really well done.
• Additions.  There are plot additions that aren't in the book.  Now normally I might be upset by this but it really adds to the story.  Jackson has added things to tie the two stories together, those being the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.  If I remember correctly Sauron isn't mentioned at all in the Hobbit book.  They also add a story about an Orc named Azog, which from what little research I did, appears in some appendices somewhere.  I won't ruin the added story but it gives reason why the orcs are hunting down the party.  Throw in some stuff with the White Council, perhaps the hint of the feature heel turn by Saruman, and I think the additions are more than justified.
• Acting.  The acting in this film is really well done as well.  I read a review where Martin Freeman "mugged" up the screen most of the time and he sort of does...correctly.  His reactions are exactly those you'd expect of a person (or hobbit if you will) that has never been anywhere or done anything.  Are they slightly over the top, perhaps, but I thought they were perfect.  Gandalf of course wad done masterfully as before.  The dwarves are perfectly done as well.  Throw in an appearance for the 7th Doctor as Radagast and you've got an excellent performances all around.
• Visual Effects.  The visual effects are beyond amazing, as you'd expect.  The opening where Bilbo, I think it is Bilbo, is telling the story of the Lonely Mountain was awesome.  I hope to get to see it in IMAX 3D as that scene alone makes it worth while in my opinion.  
• Cameos.  There are several cameos/reprisals that were cool.  I won't spoil them although most of you probably already know.
• Songs.  One of the things about the Hobbit and what I really liked about the animated version, were the songs that are in the book.  Click the link above for the Misty Mountain song. 
• Ken Stott.  I already talked about the acting but Ken deserves a special mention.  He stole every scene he was in as Balin.  An important character for sure but done so perfectly.  Even with Gandalf in the movie I dare say I think Stott had the best performance.  The telling the story of Thorin and Azog was done so well, so much so that I think it was my favorite scene.

The bad

• There is only one thing I didn't like about the flick.  It is a minor thing but with three movies I think it was too much.  

*SPOILER ALERT* so I'll end my blog here.  GO SEE THIS MOVIE!  SEE IT SEVERAL TIMES!  Take the whole family.  Take strangers.  While I enjoyed Avengers this movie blows it out of the water 100 times.  This, in my opinion and since it is my blog is all that matters, is better than the three Lord of the Rings movies.  Just amazing.  Scroll down to see my one complaint about the movie.

• Okay if you clicked down here to read this you know it has a spoiler.  Azog the Orc has vowed to destroy Thorin and his entire family.  The orcs have them trapped in the trees and about to die when Thorin says "Fuck it" (well that is what I would have said) and charged through the fire to fight Azog one on one.  He sucks and is about to die when Bilbo, who moments ago was told he didn't belong by out there by Thorin, saves him.  The Eagles (no there was no Michael Vick cameo) save the day.  Thorin then says he was wrong and embraces Bilbo and they are now friends.  This complaint could be wrong if I have a bad memory, but in the book Thorin doesn't accept Bilbo till he is dying.  He is a bigot and raciest in the book if I remember right and realizes the error of his way on his death bed.  I would have liked to have seen that dynamic of Bilbo always helping and earning the dwarves respect little by little like in the book.  A minor complaint and hardly breaks the movie and don't really even hurt the enjoyment just something that hit me the second they embrace.  Again if I am wrong then I have no complaints about the movie and that is rare!