Andrew, like me, is a big fan of the LOTR movies.
We both enjoyed the movie.
At 169 minutes it is a long movie, although not as long as any of the 3 LOTR movies.
The current IMDB rating is 8.4 which puts it under the 3 LOTR movies (which are currently scoring 8.8, 8.7, and 8.9 in order). I think that's about right.
Martin Freeman does quite a good job in the role of Bilbo of matching the voice and mannerisms of Ian Holm. I though that Richard Armitage did a very good job in the role of Thorin, the leader of the dwarves.
The first section of the movie takes place in The Shire and introduces the dwarves and focusses on convincing Bilbo to take on this "quest". This part feels overly long to be frank.
The rest of the movie goes along at a good pace. There are excellent action sequences which will be a pleasure to anyone who enjoyed the LOTR movies. There are orcs, goblins and trolls. My favourite action sequence features the "stone giants".
Some familiar characters make a welcome appearance, although the majority of these are quite brief.
I had some concerns about the fact that the book is to be made into 3 movies. I guess those concerns still exist especially as I was sitting through the first part.
My rating: 8/10.
I see that an Irish actor, Jimmy Nesbitt, has landed a role as one of the dwarves. I'm open to correction on this but I don't recall any Irish actors in the LOTR movies so this is a welcome step. Here is a picture of 3 of the dwarves with Jimmy in the centre:
