Excellent film and among the best to watch in 3D!

Rating: 8/10 (9 January 2013)

I'll try to keep this review short and sweet. I'm not a huge LOTR fan like some. I've never read the books and I've seen the first trilogy only one time each (and I did think they were great). But what I am is a movie fanatic/sci fi fan, and movies like The Hobbit are hard to pass up.
First and foremost, story, CGI, acting, sound/score, all among the best. Peter Jackson knows how to take the viewer on a journey and make a fantastic looking film. The 3D in the movie is absolutely stunning. I'm not a fan of 3D but this movies special FX and even basic scenes like walking around were very convincingly done. If you get a chance to watch this in 3D, jump on the opportunity, it's worth it!
My only complaint about the Hobbit (as well as the other LOTR movies) I think these movies are TOO LONG!!! It's not an entirely bad thing for a film like "The Hobbit". But I could go for a sweet flick just under two hours. It seems like these movies drag on for far too long, and to be honest, "The Hobbit" is the worst of them all. There is a lot of side-track story telling in between and the movie just seems to drag on at some points. If you absolutely love these movies/books for LOTR then you probably like it being long. But as more the typical viewer, it's hard to stay interested for that long. Also, I'm not going to spoil the ending, but the way the movie ends was just kind of weird and obvious that there would be a sequel.
All and all, still a great film. Despite the running time this is a great film and definitely worth checking out.