Before I start, I want to be absolutely clear: I really do love The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Seriously. While I don't think that it was one of the best movies to come out last year, it was one that I highly enjoyed--which is more than can be said of a lot of things I've seen in the last year or so.
But as much as I like The Hobbit, it is not a good movie. At all. In fact, it's easily the worst of the four Tolkien adaptations by director Peter Jackson. Not even the padded, plodding theatrical cut of Two Towers can really hold a candle to The Hobbit at its worst. Which is a shame, because there is a good movie hiding in The Hobbit, and it features some of the best scenes in the entire franchise.
I know that I'm going to get some blow back from some friends for dissecting The Hobbit, but I think that understanding why this movie fails might help us understand some of what is wrong with Hollywood movies today.
