Visually stunning but not Tolkiens Hobbit

Rating: 3/10 (27 December 2013)

I watched the Hobbit 2 on Christmas day. First I must say I attended the movie with significant trepidation as the Hobbit was a vast disappointment. This installment didn't fail my expectations.
The movie is visually stunning and the graphics without compare. The story as it's depicted moves quickly with sufficient action to maintain the audiences attention for the 134 minutes you sit in the theatre.
The problem is the story itself. It's about as butchered as is humanely possible. Sure it holds the basic story line.... noble quest, big dragon, lonely mountain, dwarfs, elves and men.... but a budding romance between wood elf and Kili? Seriously? This thread alone destroys any connection to the real world of Tolkiens' Hobbit. The whole scene of the dwarfs inside the mountain chasing Smaug was conspicuously missing from EVERY version of the Hobbit I have ever read, and believe me, I have read many. The Orcs invading Dale? Never happened. Elves following the Dwarfs after their escape? Kili getting wounded and left behind along with Fili? Nope. Using Athelas as a healing herb? Athelas isn't even mentioned until the Lord of the Rings and then its potency was limited to the hands of the rightful King of Gondor. What purpose to introduce it now?
Before I sound like a complete traditionalist, the whole segment of Gandalf entering Dol Guldur was a nice add however the movie again deviates from the story. Still..... not a total waste as traditionalists like myself probably enjoyed the diversion from the main storyline.
Aside from the significant and purposeless distractions from the original story line, Peter Jackson's multiple attempts at making "cute" scenes such as Bombur in a barrel rolling through Orcs detract rather than add to the story and make the dwarfs look like bumbling idiots instead of the proud, stalwart and taciturn beings they are in the original Tolkien works.
It's too bad Mr. Jackson felt the need to add and alter what is a cornerstone masterpiece of literature and a story enjoyed by millions of readers. Had he stuck to the original more closely I strongly suspect 2 films would have been sufficient but I expect the desire to pad the box office stats has lead to the multiple disappointing inclusions and bastardization of what many of us fondly remember. Has I never read the story, let alone read multiple times, I might have enjoyed the films but as it stands now I look to the final chapter with an expectations of complete frustration.