Mixed reviews so far for The Hobbit...

Reviews for the eagerly awaited The Hobbit have already start to come through from the US and from what we can see, they're largely mixed. Total Film give it the full five stars while Variety describe it as a "mythologically dense, computer-generated-heavy prologue" that has failed to remain faithful to original story. Other positive feedback comes from The Wrap who ensure us that fans of the books will "doubtless love this movie," and that the first installment in Peter Jacksons's second franchise is "ambitiously epic and visually inventive." Still though, The Wrap's Leah Rozen has added that "it's neither as engrossing nor exhilarating as the first time around with Rings." Boo.

However, us being the kind of folk who like to see the glass half full are going to pay little heed to the naysaysers; five stars from Total Film is as good a recommendation as any. Their Matthew Leyland is confident that The Hobbit puts Peter Jackson back in his wheelhouse: "after tripping over The Lovely Bones, his return to swords, sorcery and beards deserving of their own postcodes is fantasy how it ought to be."

We'll be catching the flick early next week so stay tuned to entertainment.ie for our verdict.