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Are you ready to return to middle-earth? Why wouldn’t you be? Peter Jackson, with the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, brought us to a place that many thought wasn’t possible except in the written form. A product of many of our childhoods, J.R.R. Tolkien constructed an elaborate world of wizards, trolls, elves, dwarves, humans and most importantly Hobbits. It is an elaborately detailed world of maps, homelands, stories and adventures. It couldn’t possibly be realized anywhere close to what J.R.R. Tolkien’s imagination did. Yet, Jackson pulled it off better than anyone could have hoped. Now, he’s trying again.

"The Hobbit" is a step backward into the history of middle-earth. It is quite simply the adventure that Bilbo Baggins takes that leads to him writing his book, "There and back again". Peter Jackson is trying to do the unthinkable with this trilogy, duplicate the magic he pulled off before. Much can be told from this first installment and whether or not the magic is still there.

The movie, filmed at twice frame-speed as traditional film (48 frames) has many geeks talking about how it will look too real. Ultimately, at 48 frames, it could look as crisp and real as a soap opera. Well, first of all, with a film like this, it takes a lot of guts to attempt such a thing; a movie with such obvious special effects and makeup. Yet, the opposite could also be achieved; a level of escapism and realism that not only delivers a quality movie experience, but also sucks you into a world that you don’t want to leave.

Peter Jackson has learned a few things from his first trilogy and you can see it in "The Hobbit". This world is even more realized. The characters are more fleshed out. Peter Armitage’s depiction of Thorin is full of heart and passion. The faithfulness to the book itself is even more realized. More importantly, the journey is even more colorful and creative.

"The Hobbit" is a lot of the same. It’s another journey full of adventure and trolls, dwarves and orcs, but again, it is a quality journey. The escapism you feel in this film is like nothing I’ve ever felt before. When it was time to go, at the end of the film, I didn’t want to go yet. I was there, I was in middle-earth, ready to take the journey ahead with Bilbo, Gandolff and the band of Dwarves. I didn’t care about length or how long I had been sitting there, I was invested. That, is really all any movie can do.