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The Hobbit reviewed: An Unexpected Journey has a long road ahead
“All good stories deserve embellishment.” This is not a sentiment to be found in J.R.R. Tolkien’s slim novel The Hobbit, but it’s uttered by the wise wizard Gandalf near the very expected beginning of An Unexpected Journey.

It’s obviously co-writer and director Peter Jackson’s belief as well. Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy mirrored the structure of Tolkien’s book, to the delight of a legion of fans and many new converts. But The Hobbit is a relatively brief and simple quest, as evidenced by the book’s subtitle: There and Back Again.

Jackson’s Lord of the Rings was a masterpiece, and The Hobbit, at least as far as the unexpected journey has taken us, remains more of a mini-piece. (Warner Bros.)