I recently saw the Maple Films fan edit of The Hobbit trilogy which basically cut out many of the poorly conceived sub plots and removed all of the unnecessary fluff that isn't in Tolkien's novel and turned it into one single movie. It's very well put together and I highly recommend it if you just want to watch a more condensed and focused Hobbit movie before a Lord of the Rings binge. It did make me realise that for all the cash grabbing and stupid decisions with the trilogy, there was still some ion in trying to bring Tolkien's version of The Hobbit to life and it gave me at least a bit more of an appreciation of these movies.

I enjoying An Unexpected Journey the most in this trilogy when I first saw these films and after rewatching them all, that has not changed. It does feel the most faithful and true to the lore and overall it is a solid re-visit to Middle Earth. It's definitely the one with the least amount of fluff, and I really enjoyed Bilbo's journey here and how he changes over the course of the film in a way that feels believable, where he starts out looking more like a fish out of water trying to fit in and find acceptance. Martin Freeman was a great choice for the role.

Richard Armitage is also fantastic as Thorin and he seemed like a really promising character at the start. He seems wise and a natural leader, but he also has his flaws like the fact he is really prideful. The latter creates an interesting dynamic where Bilbo is constantly looking up to him while Thorin looks down on him and underestimates him.

I also loved the entire 'riddle' scene with Gollum and the entire interaction Bilbo has with him. Gollum is one of the most tragic and downright pitiful characters in all of Middle Earth. There's also a sense of tension in that scene because of what the audience already knows about him and seeing the main character completely clueless and has to improvise to outwit him to get out of the situation alive. It's brilliantly acted and felt like a true character defining moment for Bilbo and also adds more sympathy to the creature once called Smeagle.

Unfortunately where it falters for me and where the entire trilogy falters is the strength of its action scenes. While not as egregious as the sequels and particularly the third movie, none of the action scenes never feel like they have any weight to them compared to the Lord of the Rings. While in those films they were a spectacle because of the scale of them, those scenes felt far more weighted in reality and characters actually felt like they were in danger (well maybe the Legolas shenanigans are sometimes over the top, but you get the point). Here it's CGI, physics defying stuff that I could never get behind. It felt like every single character had plot armour and survived because of convenience.

Even if the orcs was essentially as effective as a stormtrooper they had a much more menacing and intimidating presence in the Lord of the Rings, which still made me take them seriously as a threat with lots of breathtaking practical make up effects with Peter Jackson's background in horror movies really adding to the designs. In this film the main villain Azog is largely forgettable and looks like a PS3 video game character, and in particular the Goblin leader's CGI appearance is vomit inducing. Just too much CGI!

Many of the dwarves also aren't really defined besides some of the appearances and save for about 3 of the characters, it's hard to tell what their purposes in the story are or what their names are and unfortunately that never changes in the sequels. I still mostly enjoyed this movie more than its sequels because of the stronger character moments and despite it's bloated nature, the narrative is a lot more focused for me as the journey for the most part is enjoyable. Sadly it's a hard movie to recommend because of my disappointment with the trilogy overall, but this is a decent film on its own merits.