'Hobbit' Digibook Leads Off Epic Middle-Earth Trilogy

Cornered and nowhere to run, this is the perfect place to keep audiences hanging another year.

Harsh criticisms such as overindulgences and cheap marketing ploys have been thrown around the film circles a bit too much regarding Peter Jackson's return to Middle-Earth in nearly a decade. Sure, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey only covers 1/3 of a 300-page children's book, leaving audiences hanging for two more 3-hour sequels, but there's nothing wrong than building up a little anticipation. Not at all.

In the first leg of this three-movie trek, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) sets out from his comfortable hobbit hole in the midst of the Shire's green pastures to join 13 dwarves who have been displaced by a  dragon plundering their mountain stronghold. For those joining the adventures of fantastical Middle-Earth for the very first time should know that along the way, birds, beasts and a gangly creature called Gollum are obstacles in the way of reclaiming the Lonely Mountain.

So even if there's not much source material for Jackson and company to work with, An Unexpected Journey makes it a point to hide that fact by shoehorning in time-appropriate subplots from J.R.R. Tolkien's appendices to "The Lord of the Rings." The additional material effectively fleshes out the overall structure proving Peter Jackson is a pro at relentlessly engaging his audiences nonstop for three straight  hours of fantasy adventure.

But it's Martin Freeman's leading performance that fuels the life force of The Hobbit. Freeman is a fantastic Bilbo Baggins, emulating the mannerisms of Ian Holm from the original trilogy, while making the prim and proper hobbit his own torn between an adventure and living a life of security. Freeman's Bilbo is more family-friendly than his nephew Frodo, and that to itself lends a hand to the more light-hearted moments to expect from The Hobbit.

While happening in the same world, it's not fair to judge An Unexpected Journey on the same level as the three originals. Middle-Earth is nowhere near the precipice of a full-fledged war with the Enemy. This first installment is simply an entertaining road adventure with only a revenge plot involving dwarves and orcs bridging the intensity to the two trilogies.

For being Warner Bros.' first crack at Jackson's Middle-Earth saga, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is already the finest Blu-ray release 2013 has to offer. Video and audio are astounding, capturing every detail of its theatrical release for home viewing. Luckily, the controversial 48FPS (frames per second) conversion is nowhere to be seen.

Unlike New Line Cinema, the studio behind the original trilogy, Warner Bros. skimps on the number of special features for this theatrical cut. The production videos and trailers have been available online for months, so there's no real difference between watching them on disc or online. But for those anticipating the next installment, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, due out this December, Warner Bros. will be releasing an exclusive online sneak peek in the coming week.

For those collectors out there, An Unexpected Journey is released in a sleek Digibook exclusively through Walmart. The three discs are housed in a durable book with individual hubs. Also inside is a 64-page excerpt from "World of Hobbits." 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is an overdue warm welcome back to the worlds of Middle-Earth and is the perfect holdover for the inevitable Special Extended Edition later in the year and The Desolation of Smaug shortly after.

MOVIE: A (10/10)
VIDEO: A+ (10/10)
AUDIO: A (10/10)
EXTRAS: A- (9/10)

GRADE: A (10/10)