But years later, sitting down for an extended cut marathon, I found myself falling in love with Middle-earth all over again. Not in spite of its flaws, but through them. Here’s why An Unexpected Journey , The Desolation of Smaug , and The Battle of the Five Armies are a richer experience than memory suggests. The first film is the most faithful to the book’s spirit. Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman, perfection) is dragged from his hobbit-hole into a world of trolls, goblins, and riddles in the dark. The opening hour—set in Bag End, with dwarves arriving for an impromptu, chaotic dinner party—is some of Jackson’s best work. It’s cozy chaos.
It’s smaller in scale, but larger in heartbreak. The Hobbit trilogy is imperfect. It should have been two films. The CGI orcs lack the grit of practical effects. Alfred is annoying. But what it gets right—Bilbo’s journey, Smaug’s menace, Thorin’s tragedy, the music (Howard Shore, you genius)—is so right that I’ll defend it. the hobbit 1 2 3
We wanted The Lord of the Rings again. Instead, we got a melancholy, ambitious, sometimes silly epic about how gold poisons and home heals. And honestly? That’s a very Tolkien truth. But years later, sitting down for an extended