Quite competent but nothing special

Rating: 6/10 (15 December 2012)

I found this little-long film to be quite entertaining. It is much weaker than the Lord of the Rings trilogy, given that its source material is also weaker. Tolkien began to craft his Middle Earth in the Hobbit novel but from the film I got the impression that the concept of the Middle Earth began as something quite less impressive than what it blossomed later in the Lord of the Rings. Here we have basically an children's adventure story set in a fantasy land full of orcs, goblins and monsters of all kinds.
Overall, I found the film entertaining but certainly not on the level of the original Lord of the Rings films. Competently executed but nothing that is a must see.