J.R.R Tolkien’s first novel in The Lord of the Rings trilogy hit the movie theaters last Friday. This three-hour long flick may have had its appeal, but it did not really kick in with action until the last hour.

According to fans of the popular series, The Hobbit starts the Lord of the Rings off great. It introduces new characters and explains back stories of the Lord of the Rings characters.

 The Hobbit has constant battles and impending doom that the previous trilogy had to offer. The story follows Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit who is encouraged to follow Gandalf the Grey and a group of dwarves to attack a dragon’s mountain lair.

The split personality hobbit named Gollum is brought back again in The Hobbit, played by Andy Serkis. Gollum and Bilbo get into a battle of riddles, Serkis plays the character just as well as he did in the Lord of the Rings.

One character, who was not originally in The Hobbit novel, added dramatic skill to the movie. Galadriel, the princess of Noldorin, played by Cate Blanchett, was brought back for a brief time, and it was nice to include her after she played the role well in The Lord of the Rings.

Along with the seriousness of Lord of the Rings, there are many scenes in The Hobbit that are light hearted, with some comedy from the dwarves.

The mood varies with the environment of the scene. When Bilbo gets into a battle with Gollum, the mood is rather dark and ominous in a cave. Also, when they go near the lair of the dragon, the mood gets more and more dark with every battle, whether it be with orcs, wolves, giants or other dangerous creatures. In these scenes, they used flames to light the screen to create a poorly lit backdrop that created suspense.

This is in contrast to the fairytale land that opens the film. The movie starts off funny and light hearted, but once it gets further in, there is a mixture of battles dished out here and there. Then there are parts of the movie that are serene like when the group is in the Elven city.

For the die hard fans of the series, try seeing the movie in the 3-D version of the movie. It doubles the frames per second of the movie from 24 to 48, providing clearer, crisper images and enhancing the detail in the movie.

Though the movie was impressive, it is also very long, so the audience has to be patient, being that the intense battles expected in all of the Lord of the Rings movies do not start until the last 45 minutes of the movie.

Overall, the movie was a success and adds to the legacy of the popular Lord of the Rings series. The movie is well worth the time and money to go see. With the original Lord of the Rings intense battles, mythical creatures and the new comedy added in, The Hobbit: an Unsuspected Journey will satisfy fantasy fans and any followers of the Tolkien series.