Not idly does nerd entertainment surpass popular culture and venture into the domain of pure culture in and of itself. Unifying the peoples at large under a banner of celebratory geek awareness, our forefathers had Star Wars, a timeless groundbreaker that everlastingly endured to captivate generation after generation. While we have paved the success of countless cult following properties, seldom did they rival the magnum opus of George Lucas. Then one day, from a hole in the ground, a Hobbit came to the big screen and brought with it the crowning achievement of becoming the modern Star Wars – ironically more than the modern day Star Wars. We had the film adapted Lord of the Rings, an indoctrination that culminating in unprecedented critical and audience praise that ventured into phenomenon. Celebrated with an unparalleled amount of Oscar victories, Peter Jackson is now met with anticipation and expectation the likes of which have not been seen since 1999’s The Phantom Menace. Yet like its intergalactic parallel, will The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey be an unexpected disappointment?

From start to finish, The Hobbit had nay-saying disapproval. Largely dismissing the techie commotion about the novel frame-rate, when the already doubted two-part stretch was announced to be altered into a three-part reconstruction…needless to say, cash grab was an expression used endlessly. Much like the titular heroes Fellowship dialogue, the text was thought to be coincidentally becoming butter scrapped over too much bread. J.R.R. Tolkien’s beloved literary masterpiece is a shallow 317 page children’s story, each separate installment of his literature sequel alone being of lengthier content. Was it at all achievable to remold this into its own trilogy or did we have a shameless box-office plot at hand?

Consider that the stories have been told out of order, The Hobbit being published in 1937, almost two decades before the Rings series. Consequently much was enhanced or revised by Tolkien after the fact. The pseudo-antagonist Thranduil was then plainly known only as the Elven King. His prince son, Legolas Greenleaf, is never referenced in the halls of Mirkwood perhaps only because he had yet to be created. Therefore it is not out of the realm of possibility that he could have been present for the capturing of the dwarves. The Necromancer was conceptually not any alias of the titular lord of the one ring as he also had yet to be invented. In doing the Lord of the Rings first, consequently turning The Hobbit into an impromptu prequel, an amalgamation is achieved that was prior not overtly there. Peter Jackson has intricately woven the two stories into one all-encompassing world by inserting the appendix tales as they chronologically happened. Considering all this and that the narrative is a story within the story, There and Back Again, it’s being sort of recited by our narrator, Bilbo…is it at all possible to produce three films? With ease!

Often overlooked or even downright forgotten is the appendix featured in the back of the Return of the King. Here you can discover the majority of extra goings on that Jackson and co. have extracted. From Appendix A III Durin’s Folk comes the heritage of the long-beards, the coming of Smaug upon the Lonely Mt. and Dale, and the Dwarf and Orc wars. Much of the history of Thorin Oakenshield is referenced here along with the prologue. In Appendix B The Tale of Years you find the white council and their banishing of the Necromancer (an alias of Sauron) from Dol Guldor, events occurring within the shadows of the timeline of Thorin’s quest to reclaim Erebor. Even the book itself directly mentions these interactions in its closing chapter:

“It was in this way that he learned where Gandalf had been to; for he overheard the words of the wizard to Elrond. It appeared that Gandalf had been to a great council of the white wizards, masters of lore and good magic; and that they at last had driven the Necromancer from his dark hold in the south of Mirkwood” – The Hobbit: The Last Stage

Much like the Ents attacking Isengard or Gandalf imprisoned atop Orthanc, events not directly told in linear fashion upon the page, the white council subplot does have source. On film it will merely be immediately accounted for instead of told via flashback or annotation. You cannot tell a plot crux like the downfall of Saruman as a casual hindsight conversation. As a predominately visual medium, film doesn’t work that way. For the sanctity of drama you need a  first-hand telling of the Ents destroying Isengard or else it becomes wasted opportunity. This same ideology is repeated more than a few times within An Unexpected Journey. Nor does page number necessarily equate to running-time. The stone giants are described by Tolkien in one lone sentence and yet produce something like a five minute action sequence. Jackson often remains relatively or even entirely (depending) faithful while expanding the length of or uniquely interpreting the pallet with only injected adrenaline rather than full-on diverging.

Remarkably, embodying the spirits of a Hollywood-equivalent Fellowship, practically every returning role has been reprised. Ian McKellen’s thespian talents yet again revel in the grandfatherly charms of Gandalf the Grey, sorely missing from the staunchness of his re-risen White. The veteran actor etches his name deeper into the foundations of the icon in the most enchanting of ways. Now becoming practically synonymous with first-thoughts of the image, his introduction to Bilbo, “I am Gandalf…and Gandalf is me,” breaks away from the page. Indeed he is Gandalf…and Gandalf is McKellen. From every lovably grumpy quip to flaming pinecone, his acting is so magical that you come to forget you’re viewing a film and instead believe he simply is and always has been the stuff of wizardry.

Andy Serkis, now second director, vitally returns to the retched Gollum by delivering another scene-stealing performance. Perhaps most relevantly, Riddles in the Dark takes center stage as the most overtly foreshadowing piece and remains arguably the crown jewel of the entire first act. Underlining the playfulness of the riddle game is a noticeably tense horror, the rings obsessively perverting qualities are on display in ways perhaps more unsettling than ever. Sméagol’s pathetic desperation to find his suddenly lost precious evokes drug-addicted metaphors that flip-flop between sympathetic to downright disturbed. Here captured with the sincerity of Tolkien-stoked respect, the slow but inevitably realization that Gollum’s birthday present prize is the answer to Bilbo’s rather unfair pocket conundrum sprouts surprising heartbreak. Like parting yet abusive lovers, one unhealthily clinging to past dependency while the other moves coldly and with speed to its new host, Bilbo’s staying of the sword due to the despairing in the weeping eyes of the pitiful creature brings up a few joint swells of emotion. Gollum remains shattered indefinitely, that is until another Baggins enters his life.

Hugo Weaving and Cate Blanchett now display more…for lack of a better term…human personality in their elven roles. Christopher Lee’s Saruman may be brief but is altogether memorable, accenting his appearance with betrayer undertones even now. Of the same order is Radagast the Brown. While only having a single reference in The Hobbit book, here he’s largely expanded to the messenger-like version seen in the Fellowship of the Ring novel. Sort of amalgamating Gandalf with the always excluded Tom Bombadil of the pages, Sylvester McCoy’s wizardry offers almost Rowling-like peculiarity with his nature guardian duties. Because of this he’s been met with accusations of being the Jar Jar Binks of the franchise. Not without reason or purpose, the playfulness and Disney-esque traits of Radagast represent the innocence of the soon bygone peace-time now threateningly clashed by the coming darkness of his Mirkwood findings. Crucially it is he who first discovers the coming of the necromancy in the now tainted forest and diverges from comedic to a capable sorcerer worthy of the Istari. This helps to contrast the similarities and differences between what is and the horrors that eventually come to be. In this intricacy, Jackson remains very faithful to the pseudo-lost time element of the working world of J.R.R., the New Zealand landscape being every bit as much a character as its human components.

Of the new class, Thorin Oakenshield prevails as valedictorian. Highlighted by the prologue upon which Smaug decimates the dwarf kingdom of Erebor, Thorin is made a more empathetic character than that which is read in print. Flashbacking to his times in the Dwarf and Orc wars, worthy of any Rings battle, newly included is his blood feud with Azog of Gundabad to grant the film a new foe to establish edgy build-up for the Battle of Five Armies. The progression through which he grows to slowly accept his burglar is masterfully portrayed by Richard Armitage, the oaken warrior now more openly displaying his kingly heritage in pride and labor instead of greed-induced coveting.

The company of dwarves was one of the most challenging aspects to adapt and therefore have somewhat deviated. Instead of being more of a whimsy numerical gimmick than ever fully fleshed out personalities, the thirteen dwarves are being adapted into more individuals. Because of this you have more memorable stand-out caricatures with identifiable roles than the almost completely interchangeable book versions. They each have their own unique quirks that get their moment to shine, from their fighting capabilities seen in Goblin town to the organization they enact when fleeing warg packs. They’re ranging from physical aesthetics, diverse weaponry to show off their warrior skills, to even axes imbedded into their forehead. While they may be occasionally lumbering and even a bit of a nuance at times…Thorin’s company of dwarves embody brotherhood comradery in touchingly lovable ways that challenge the nine seen in Lord of the Rings.

Naturally, certainly not least, is the hobbit. Despite the near oversaturation of appendix lore, it’s never forgotten that Bilbo Baggins is indeed the title hero – literally. Only rivaling Ian McKellen’s written in stone role, Martin Freeman makes you believe he simply is his character. His rural and solitary quaintness slowly but surely vanishes into Hobbiton frowned-upon eccentricity as he is unwillingly suckered into the adventure to reclaim the Lonely Mt. The arc he experiences, from reluctantly humorous to the full-fledged burglar of the company, is nothing short of ideal. Not lightly do I use the word perfect, yet no other adjective fits for Freeman’s Halfling. From earning his stripes among the three Trolls, rewarded with Sting and his coveted jewelry along the way, Bilbo’s stature may be minute but his growth is never overshadowed by the larger going-on. While tossed into these beautifully dangerous lands, he still retains those home-grown Hobbit-ism ideologies. From a hunger for second breakfasts, wittily sneaking his way about with stealthy genes, and a worshipping of pipe weed and well-earned comforts, Bilbo ever remains an admirable resident of the Shire proving the merit of his people.

As expected by any learned Tolkien reader, The Hobbit: an Unexpected Journey is comparatively far less apocalyptic in scope and by proxy less serious than its cinematic predecessor. Yet despite this, considering its more personal narratives, it still manages to convey all the depth and fictional yet deceptively realistic cultural history of the Jackson interpreted Lord of the Rings. While it may charm with more traditional fairy tale idiosyncrasy, Bilbo’s adventure being of far more whimsical to even funny qualities, it reminisces the epic linage established first by 2001’s Fellowship of the Ring with misty-eyed nostalgia. For all its tonal differences, quirky caricatures, and enchanting lyrical yarns, The Hobbit still carries, much like the novel it’s inspired by, a noticeable but underlying maturity. Yet unlike the crafting of the author himself, the live-action adaptation more so unifies the broadened continuity at large in ways perhaps, sacrilegiously, superior to the source materials. Consequently this heightens the experience that, in spite of the near ten year gap, we’ve gone there and now come back again to our escapist home of Middle-Earth.