The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

PG-13

Released Dec 14, 2012

2h 49m

Fantasy

Adventure

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Popcornmeter

64%

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302 Reviews

83%

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250,000+ Ratings

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) lives a simple life with his fellow hobbits in the shire, until the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) arrives and convinces him to join a group of dwarves on a quest to reclaim the kingdom of Erebor. The journey takes Bilbo on a path through treacherous lands swarming with orcs, goblins and other dangers, not the least of which is an encounter with Gollum (Andy Serkis) and a simple gold ring that is tied to the fate of Middle Earth in ways Bilbo cannot even fathom.

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Critics Consensus

Peter Jackson's return to Middle-earth is an earnest, visually resplendent trip, but the film's deliberate pace robs the material of some of its majesty.

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J. Hoberman

The New York Review of Books

There is a good deal to be said about Peter Jackson's long-awaited and exceedingly long adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, most of it bad.

Mar 28, 2017

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Christopher Orr

The Atlantic

It frequently seems as though Jackson was less interested in making The Hobbit than in remaking his own fabulously successful Lord of the Rings series.

Dec 14, 2012

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Perri Nemiroff

Shockya.com

Two thirds is so packed with charming characters, stellar visuals and sense of adventure, it makes that other third come across as much more of a failure than it really is.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 14, 2012

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

It’s big, bloated even, impressively produced but overburdened with import and foreshadowing.

Apr 26, 2025

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Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

Patience is exactly the virtue required.

Rated: 4/5

Oct 17, 2024

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

This is a cinematic world so fully realized that leaving it is a sad prospect.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 20, 2022

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Terry M

Good family movie. Loved it.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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Kevin E

Peter Jackson took a slim, charming 300-page novel and inflated it into a bloated, nine-hour endurance test, beginning here with the first movie - nearly three hours of padded detours. What should have been a lighthearted, tightly woven story of a reluctant hero on an adventure gets swamped by filler sequences, CGI overindulgence, and constant winks toward the Lord of the Rings films—as if they needed to be retrofitted into lore they were never part of. The magic of Tolkien’s little book was its pace and simplicity, a brisk tale that left room for wonder. Here, it becomes an overextended franchise extension, stretching material so thin you can almost hear it snapping. At three hours for the entire book, this would have been a delightful companion to the LOTR trilogy. Instead, we get a lumbering introduction to a trilogy no one was truly asking for. It feels less like storytelling and more like risk-management accounting. Yes, it’s gorgeous to look at, but it’s hard to see where the joy of the story went amid the endless attempts to justify a business decision disguised as art. This was less An Unexpected Journey and more An Unnecessarily Long Franchise Experiment.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/13/25

Full Review

Asciai R

If I'm not mistaken some scene that are based from the previous trilogy (Lord of the rings) was changed like how Bilbo got the ring (who knows probably they follow what's on the book) but the essence and the meaning of the whole trilogy were still there making it more beautiful and poetic.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/29/25

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James E

Definitely a step down from the previous trilogy, but still full of heart and fun.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/28/25

Full Review

thiago s

Filme fraco, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são fracas, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/09/25

Full Review

Nana B

I mean for a reborn of one of the greatest franchises of all time it’s good very good and it’s fun to watch

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

07/30/25

Full Review

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Peter Jackson

Director

Ian McKellen

Gandalf

Martin Freeman

Bilbo Baggins

Richard Armitage

Thorin Oakenshield

Ken Stott

Balin

Graham McTavish

Dwalin

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Synopsis

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) lives a simple life with his fellow hobbits in the shire, until the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) arrives and convinces him to join a group of dwarves on a quest to reclaim the kingdom of Erebor. The journey takes Bilbo on a path through treacherous lands swarming with orcs, goblins and other dangers, not the least of which is an encounter with Gollum (Andy Serkis) and a simple gold ring that is tied to the fate of Middle Earth in ways Bilbo cannot even fathom.

Director: Peter Jackson
Producer: Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson
Screenwriter: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: WingNut Films
Rating: PG-13 (Intense Action Violence|Frightening Images|Intense Fantasy Violence)
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 14, 2012, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 11, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $303.0M
Runtime: 2h 49m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital, SDDS, Datasat

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