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
Works inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien (1980); earlier they had made a TV animation of "The Hobbit" (1977). "The Lord of the Rings" was adapted as a trilogy of films (2001–03), directed by Peter Jackson. "The Hobbit" was also adapted as a trilogy (2012–14), with some elements adapted from "The Return of the King"'s Appendices. The split of Tolkien's works between Tolkien Enterprises and the Tolkien Estate means that none of the Tolkien Enterprises' products can include source material from outside "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings", and therefore a film or stage version of "The Silmarillion" is highly unlikely. Comparisons have been made