Article updated: 12/12/2012 4:11 PM

Jackson kills the magic of 'Rings' trilogy

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Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) discovers Gollum's ring in Peter Jackson's prequel "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

A young version of Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) reads a contract to become a burglar for a group of dwarves in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) accompanies a wizard and a group of dwarves in Peter Jackson's prequel "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

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Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) accompanies a wizard and a group of dwarves in Peter Jackson's prequel "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) accompanies a wizard and a group of dwarves in Peter Jackson's prequel "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey."

Dwarfs, a wizard and a hobbit go on a grand quest in Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," a prequel to his "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

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Peter Jackson's prequel to his amazing, award-laden "Lord of the Rings" trilogy is a sloggy trudge by generic characters through endless travelogues, tiresome combat sequences and IQ-challenged moments in which main characters lack the smarts to act with common sense. And if this is an indication of the quality of the next two planned sequels, I may well put Aragorn's Anduril to my throat.