The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
★★★½ — The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, first published in 1937, has spent the best part of nine decades proving itself one of the most enduringly beloved fantasy novels in the English language. A children's story at heart, though one that gradually outgrows that label the further Bilbo Baggins wanders from his front door, it had already spawned a well-regarded animated adaptation in 1977 before Hollywood came calling in earnest. The road to a live-action version was famously tortured, passing through years of legal wrangling between studios and a period of pre-production under Guillermo del Toro before Peter Jackson stepped back into the director's chair. What eventually arrived in December 2012 was the first instalment of a planned trilogy, produced jointly by New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Jackson's own WingNut Films, and shot entirely in New Zealand. The decision to split Tolkien's comparatively slim source novel into three films (a decision made, depending on who you ask, for creative or commercial reasons, or some muddled combination of both) would prove to be one of the more contentious calls in mainstream blockbuster filmmaking of the decade.
Peter Jackson was, of course, returning to Middle-earth for the first time since completing The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and its companion films, a trilogy that had made him one of the most celebrated directors on the planet. In the intervening years he had made King Kong, a film that demonstrated both his flair for large-scale spectacle and a tendency to indulge when perhaps a firmer editorial hand was needed. Those instincts, for better and worse, are fully present here. An Unexpected Journey runs to 169 minutes, a considerable commitment for a story whose source material is routinely described as a light, breezy read. The production design, handled by the same core team responsible for the original trilogy, is polished but unremarkable in places where it once felt genuinely revelatory, though certain sequences, particularly those involving the dwarven kingdom of Erebor, carry real visual weight. Howard Shore returned to compose the score, weaving familiar Tolkien themes alongside new material written for the dwarvish company.
The casting is one of the film's more persuasive arguments in its own favour. Martin Freeman, already well known to British audiences from The Office and Sherlock, takes on the role of Bilbo Baggins, bringing a flustered, very English sort of reluctance to the part that feels right for a hobbit who would rather be at home with a pot of tea. Ian McKellen reprises Gandalf the Grey, comfortable and authoritative in the role. Richard Armitage leads the company of thirteen dwarves as Thorin Oakenshield, giving the character a brooding, chieftain-like gravity. James Nesbitt and Ken Stott round out the company among others, contributing warmth and humour to what might otherwise be an unwieldy ensemble. Whether all that talent is used to its full potential across nearly three hours is, as with much else about this film, a question worth sitting with.
Peter Jackson’s Hobbit An Unexpected Journey is like a beautifully illustrated coffee-table book of a novel you’ve read a hundred times. Gorgeous to look at, but occasionally lost in its own footnotes. As someone who holds The Hobbit novel near and dear (My favourite novel), this adaptation stumbles where it should sprint but dazzles when it remembers to breathe . The opening act is pure magic: the Shire feels like a warm hug, the dwarves’ banter crackles with life, and Martin Freeman’s Bilbo is so a good casting, at least at first. Howard Shore’s score swells with nostalgia, and the production design is immaculate. Erebor’s flashback sequence alone is worth the price of admission. A tragic, glittering glimpse of dragon-fire and hubris. But here’s the rub: this film is stretched . What should’ve been a lean, adventurous two-parter gets bloated by unnecessary subplots (White Council debates? Azog’s relentless cameos? Thanks, but no). The pacing lurches from cozy hearth to chase scene to lore-dump like a first-time Dungeons & Dragon DM who’s just discovered appendices. And yet… it’s still better than the two sequels, which somehow made Middle-earth feel small . Does it capture the soul of Tolkien’s book? Not fully. But it nails the wonder, the quiet bravery, the camaraderie, the ache of homesickness. And those opening scenes are pure Hobbit heaven.
For me, that tension between wonder and excess is what I keep coming back to every time I revisit this one. There are moments here that remind you exactly why Jackson was the right person to bring Tolkien's world to the screen, and then, almost immediately, a scene that outstays its welcome by ten minutes and makes you wonder whether anyone on the production was empowered to say "that's enough." The two sequels, as I say, somehow managed to make things worse rather than better, and if you're curious how The Desolation of Smaug and The Battle of the Five Armies fared, I've covered both elsewhere on the site. But this first film, for all its bloat, has something the others lack: it still feels like someone genuinely loved the book. That counts for more than it probably should. Sometimes love is enough to get you through the door, even if it doesn't quite carry you all the way to the mountain.
Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 2012 | Watched: 2025-06-05
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: Netflix · Netflix Standard with Ads
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel · YouTube TV · HBO Max
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Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Peter Jackson: King Kong (2005) · The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) · The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013) · The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
More with Martin Freeman: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) · The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
More from New Zealand: What We Do in the Shadows (2014) · Mortal Engines (2018) · King Kong (2005) · 'Aho'eitu (2015)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
More fantasy: Viy (1967) · Alice in Wonderland (1951) · Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain (2024) · Mononoke the Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage (2025)
