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[MetalSlimeHunt]

It isn't shoehorned. The Hobbit is a prequel to The Lord Of The Rings, and has always had the rise of Sauron in the background.

[Trif]

The Lord Of The Rings is a sequel to The Hobbit, and while the rise of Sauron does happen in the same time period as The Hobbit, it never was a plot point. Gandalf mentions the Necromancer a few times, that's about it.

But anyways, I say shoehorned because the plot doesn't go anywhere. Radagast gets a few scenes, Gandalf has a chit-chat with some LotR characters, and then? Nobody mentions the Necromancer again. Maybe he wasn't so important after all. The whole plot just detracted from the whole hobbit and dwarfs going on an adventure business. Which was kind of the premise of the story.

[Darvi]

Granted, it was given a bit too much attention, but overall it is a rather important plot point nevertheless.

[TheKaspa]

The Lord Of The Rings is a sequel to The Hobbit, and while the rise of Sauron does happen in the same time period as The Hobbit, it never was a plot point. Gandalf mentions the Necromancer a few times, that's about it.

But anyways, I say shoehorned because the plot doesn't go anywhere. Radagast gets a few scenes, Gandalf has a chit-chat with some LotR characters, and then? Nobody mentions the Necromancer again. Maybe he wasn't so important after all. The whole plot just detracted from the whole hobbit and dwarfs going on an adventure business. Which was kind of the premise of the story.

I'd say the Necromancer will play a more important role in the third film (at least, if not in the second one - it depends on where they halfed the original Hobbit 2).
And the Necromancer by itself was not out-of-contest. I didn't appreciate the White Council scene, but just because for me it was in the wrong time (it should have been after the dwarves entered Mirkwood, or way before their journey) and also because it was shot as a connection to Lotr, and not as something important for the plot.

[Trif]

You don't have to kill off every villain at the end of the movie, but I want to see some sort of resolution. Darth Vader didn't die at the end of A New Hope, but that was fine because he had a fight with Obi-Wan and tried to shoot Luke.
Sequels are fine and all, but An Unexpected Journey just didn't feel finished. Quite a bit of screen time was dedicated to the Necromancer plot, and saying "Tune in next year" doesn't resolve it.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

There's nothing to resolve! The Necromancer is Sauron, and that plot doesn't get resolved at all until the Lord Of The Rings!

[Leafsnail]

I finally got to see it. I really enjoyed it overall - their choice of Bilbo was absolutely perfect. Absolutely.

Late to the party, but yes.  Martin Freeman doesn't have that much range as an actor but he nails that certain sort of character (Watson) perfectly.

I look forward to him talking to Smaug (Cumberbatch) considering how great all their conversations are in Sherlock.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The biggest problem to me was the way they did the Elves. They're far too somber and subdued, very much equivalent to LotR tone. The tone of the story would work better with some jolly Elves, and doing it that way would be a great way of showcasing what Sauron's rise by the time of LotR has done to Middle Earth's people. The contrast, I think would've been a great thing. On that note, the scene with Gandalf's political maneuvering wasn't a bad thing to include, but it should've been shorter and I think Saruman ought to have been the lone dissenter, overruled. There's no reason to have Gandalf have to catch up with the party later, I think

Why didn't they sing and laugh

Agreed. But all in all, I liked it.

Needed more Balrog at the start, though. Not even a mention of the Terror from the Depths, which makes the reclaiming of Moria impossible? Seems odd for Jackson to leave out Balrog. What, you don't want to put in really awesome CG for that? Sigh.

I dunno. The first thing I asked was "Why the fuck wouldn't they just stay there if that was the conclusion of the battle?" Not just herpaderp okay Dwarves let's leave now because we're sad.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

I didn't see their version as that odd. The orcs retreated, but almost all the dwarves were dead and they hadn't even breached Moria itself. Still, there should have been Balrog.

[Max White]

I can't take Balrog seriously anymore... Every time I think of a toaster/lunchbox/robot.

[Darvi]

He's a piece of sentient soap.

[Max White]

He's a piece of sentient soap.

If anything has ever made too much sense, it is this.

[SalmonGod]

Too long have we mocked the grandmaster soap maker...

[RedWarrior0]

Really, Balrog is Kool-Aid Man. Busts through walls and shouts an exclamation of joy? The dots are right there, you just need to connect them.

[Sergius]

It isn't shoehorned. The Hobbit is a prequel to The Lord Of The Rings, and has always had the rise of Sauron in the background.

Wasn't the whole "The Hobbit's invisibility ring is actually the Evil One Ring Of Evilness To Rule Them All Evilly of Sauron" a retcon that came when he wrote Lord of the Rings?