I finally got to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Peter Jackson did it again! What a great movie!

Before seeing the flick, I got prepared. Over a course of a week I watched The Lord of the Rings movies and read The Hobbit. I didn’t want to miss one tidbit of reference to the events to come in Middle-earth. I also wanted to see where Peter Jackson puts his own creative stamp on J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic novel.

Mr. Jackson does put his own spin on the story. There are many events that don’t happen in The Hobbit that come into play in the movie. They are mentioned in the book, but not in detail, like The Necromancer. The extra detail is helpful, though, in making an otherwise boring treasure hunt journey more important and exciting.

However there are minor annoyances with Mr. Jackson’s creativity. The way Biblo greets the dwarves in the beginning of the movie makes him seem less hospitable than how he is in the book. Mr. Jackson has Biblo the hero with the trolls, not Gandalf, probably to speed up the importance of the hobbit. The director also has Bilbo escape the goblins and find The Ring a different way than in the novel. The riddle game between Gollum and Biblo does seem forced, unlike in the book where it seems natural to have a game of questions. I digress as they are, as I said, minor annoyances and if you didn’t read the book, you wouldn’t notice. The book is always better than the movie.

Overall the movie is amazing. I’m really happy that many of the songs in the book are kept in the movie. I got goosebumps when Thorin sang about the devastation of Erebor, The Lonley Mountain. There are a few references to Sauron, the main baddie in The Lord of the Rings, which helps foreshadow the events to come in the later movies. Can’t wait until next year to finally see Smaug, the dragon!

Oh, and I got to meet some really cool people doing some cosplay.

A cute elf and… is that Gandalf?!

After watching The Dark Knight Rises everyone is left with one big question: What happened to the Joker?

Director and writer Christopher Nolan believed it was disrespectful to Heath Ledger to include the iconic enemy in the film, so he neglected the Joker from the third Batman movie.

But that doesn’t stop us, the fans, from creating the lore ourselves.

First up is a novel that goes deeper into the movie’s story. Appropriately titled The Dark Knight Rises: The Official Novelization, New York Times bestselling author Greg Cox offers his explanation of where Batman’s nemesis went (thanks to Nuke the Fridge for finding the quote):

Now that the Dent Act had made it all but impossible for the city’s criminals to cop an insanity plea, it (Blackgate Prison) had replaced Arkham Asylum as the preferred location for imprisoning both convicted and suspected felons. The worst of the worst were sent here, except for the Joker, who, rumor had it, was locked away as Arkham’s sole remaining inmate. Or perhaps he had escaped. Nobody was really sure. Not even Selina.

Another explanation is the Joker is actually inside the Blackgate Prison, but we just didn’t see him.

Sam Saxton, a freelance storyboard artist in New York City, believes with a double and some CGI, this scene wouldn’t be too tricky to pull off:

What do you think of the decision to exclude the Joker from The Dark Knight Rises? Do you like these explanations? Leave a comment with your thoughts.