too long

Rating: 7/10 (7 August 2013)

This was too long... way too long. There is no reason to extend the movie to this length. The only reason I could see is that Peter Jackson doesn't have anybody who could say no to him. The pacing drags way too much in too many places. He tries desperately to add whimsy to this movie. However the slow pace and the hokey characterization really causes a lot of problems.
Of course, this movie has all the Lord of the Ring grand scale... as expected. That and the fact that the characters are likable and the story watchable means it can't get anything lower than 7 out of 10. I certainly hope Peter Jackson will get a better editor next time who has the guts to say no to him. Let's tighten up the story, Peter.