The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

Peter Jackson’s much-anticipated return to Middle-earth didn’t exactly turn out to be the cinematic slam-dunk that most fans had envisioned. Nevertheless, after an unbearable wait of almost 10 years since “Return of the King” graced theaters, most of us were glad to just go along for the ride if only to spend a little more time back in the Shire catching up with our dear old buddies Bilbo and Gandalf.

Expecting the same consistent level of visual and storytelling brilliance as the Rings trilogy certainly set fans up for disappointment. Sure enough, “An Unexpected Journey” felt like a massive letdown at the time and doesn’t hold a candle to any of its predecessors. But we’ll personally die on the hill that says there’s a solid fantasy adventure epic buried here somewhere.

On the credit side of the ledger, Martin Freeman isn’t half-bad in the lead role as Bilbo, an ordinary little Hobbit suddenly thrust into extraordinary circumstances after signing up for a treasure hunt alongside a bunch of gold-hungry dwarves. Throw in Sir Ian McKellen and Andy Serkis reprising their roles as Gandalf and Gollum, as well as the same composer-DOP combo behind LOTR (Howard Shore and Andrew Lesnie), and moviegoers had every reason to believe they were in for another masterpiece. So much for that.

There’s fun to have in the margins (the Riddles in the Dark scene and Gandalf’s speech in Rivendell are obvious standouts), but this may be the single most disappointing Tolkien adaptation so far given what came before and the sheer talent attached. Somehow, it all went downhill from here.