The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey especially in the early going." Kate Muir of "The Times" gave the film four out of five stars, saying Martin Freeman "perks up" the film as Bilbo Baggins and that Jackson's use of 48 frames per second 3D technology gives the film "lurid clarity". Dan Jolin of "Empire" gave the film four out of five stars and thought "The Hobbit plays younger and lighter than Fellowship and its follow-ups, but does right by the faithful and has a strength in Martin Freeman's Bilbo that may yet see this trilogy measure up to the last one" and he stated that "There
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies key second-assistant director Guy Campbell, casting director Miranda Rivers, and Weta Workshop founder Richard Taylor appear as Hobbit children during the auction scene. "The Hobbit" was originally envisioned as a two-part film, but Jackson confirmed plans for a third film on 30 July 2012, turning his adaptation of "The Hobbit" into a trilogy. According to Jackson, the third film would contain the Battle of the Five Armies and make extensive use of the appendices that Tolkien wrote to expand the story of Middle-earth (published in the back of "The Return of the King"). Jackson also stated that while the third