Disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (5 December 2013)

Watched it last night again, for the first time since it came out and came to the same conclusions: way way way too long and there is way too much CGI, to the extent it distracts from the story.
And as much as I adore the (extended versions of) LOTR movies and what was built from the books, I have to say with great regret that Peter Jackson completely missed the point here: It's a children's story about how a small Hobbit survives all kinds of adventures through his wit and cunning. It's not a story about all kinds of LOTR style battles (apart from the ending of the story, the battle of the 5 armies). They feel completely out of place here.
Furthermore, there are many many useless and drawn out scenes: Rivendel comes to mind, and many more.
I am sad to see this drawn out movie be only the prelude to another 2 of the same length.
It could have been so much more powerful in shorter version: right now I feeling the pace is lost time and time again.
Still a 5 out of 10 for effort, but I agree with many of the 1 star reviews!