A short, hairy-footed hobbit named Bilbo embarks on an epic adventure with a set of dwarf warriors. It’s a very good movie IF (1) you don’t compare it to the “Lord of the Rings” movies or the original novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, (2) you watch it in 3D and (3) see the extended edition. If you don’t follow these directions very carefully, (1) you will be disappointed at what “The Hobbit” movie(s) should have been, (2) the CGI characters and human actors will not mesh well visually, and (3) you will lose some of the characterization that make movies like this meaningful.  This first chapter of “The Hobbit” movie trilogy is enthralling and highly entertaining with beautiful visuals. Just follow the directions, especially Step 1.

Extra:

• I saw this movie both in 2D (streaming at home) and 3D (Blu-ray at home), and I actually give it different ratings depending on the version—70% for 2D, 80% for 3D. For the Wise Rating, I averaged both and gave it 75%.