Sexy dwarves?  One book made into three movies?  A frames-per-second ratio that causes folks to barf and/or clutch their heads in pain?  Doesn’t seem like Peter Jackson’s latest trilogy is off to a good start, does it?  Ah, but you’d be wrong.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has the same lush, beautiful feel of his Lord of the Rings trilogy.  And the 48fps speed delivers a crystal clear transfer that looks like super-awesome HD and didn’t bother my head or upper GI tract in the least.  Plus, the sexy dwarves have me re-thinking my tall guy favoritism.  Kudos to PJ for building up my expectations and then topping himself over and over again.

Take that, haters.

As with Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey takes place in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-Earth; a land where humans aren’t the only bipedal creatures around.  Elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins and others abound…including hobbits.  In The Hobbit, it’s Bilbo Baggins — seen as an old and wise hobbit in LOTR — who’s the star of the show, and we see exactly how he came upon that golden ring that caused so much trouble for Frodo and his crew.  There are also dragons, stone giants and other scary monsters to be aware of, including the ookiest Troll King ever.  Though I have to say that the wargs (giant wolves that bad-guy orcs ride like horses) are kinda adorable when they’re not slavering for hobbit flesh.  I’d love a warg of my own.  I’d bet it’d make commuting a whole lot easier.

Sherlock’s Martin Freeman plays the younger Bilbo Baggins, who gets pulled into an “adventure” by Gandalf the Grey (again played by the most excellent Sir Ian McKellen).  Freeman takes the lead here, though there is a lovely prologue in Unexpected where you can see Ian Holm and Elijah Wood prepping for Bilbo’s 111th birthday party.  It’s a nice way to tie-in the story to follow with the tale we’ve seen play out in LOTR.  There are other nods to the earlier trilogy, including Weathertop, Rivendell, the stone-trolls and of course the Necromancer who becomes Sauron.  *cue ominous music*

Weta Digital and Weta Workshop show that they haven’t slacked off since the LOTR trilogy, delivering amazing effects and sets that stand up to the eagle-eye sharpness of 48fps filming.  It’s worth the extra clams to see a delightful, detailed Bag End and Shire, not to mention the painstaking detail of the lair of the Goblin King.  And yes, Howard Shore is back to provide the gorgeous musical score.

Aidan Turner as Kili, the hottest dwarf around. Tell me I’m wrong.

With more members to get to know in Unexpected than you had in Fellowship, there’s more than a few times where names and faces of the dwarves get lost in the crowd.  But as this first film of the Hobbit trilogy is more of a jumping off point there’s plenty more time to get to know them better.  Which is a good thing, especially since I’m crushing big time on Aidan Turner’s Kili.  But it’s Richard Armitage as Thorin, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, King Under the Mountain who is this trilogy’s king-in-waiting.  And the 6’2” Armitage is scaled down to dwarven size nicely, a coup for Weta’s digital gurus.

Names and faces you will recognize from LOTR are Cate Blanchette as Galadriel, Hugo Weaving as Elrond, Christopher Lee as Saruman and, of course, Andy Serkis as a younger, “hotter” Gollum. (Plus, be on the lookout for a special appearance by the hardest working moth in show business!)

Only one thing unsettled my fannish little brain.  The orcs in Unexpected look more like the bulked-up Uruk-hai than the squat, sniveling creatures from LOTR.  I’m guessing they did a lot of regressing in the 60 years between stories?  Whatever; in Unexpected their leader Yazneg is one bad shut-yo-mouth.

We shouldn’t compare The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings.  But let’s face it; we all will.  But so far, with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, things are shaping up to be a repeat of the awesomeness we saw with the first threesome.  Indeed, Peter Jackson is showing George Lucas how a prequel trilogy is done y’all.  Onward, to The Desolation of Smaug!