A failure of epic proportions

Rating: 4/10 (6 January 2013)

First and foremost a movie should entertain. This one did not, it was boring beyond imagination. Making a 300 page book into 3 over-length movies without adding any new material simply can not work.
It clearly was a commercial decision to maximise overall profits, but even that will now work, a large part of the audience will not be back for the second and third instalments. Certainly that much was clear from the way people were talking about it on the way out of the theatre.
There were no surprises, no character development, no meaningful advancement on any level. There was no romance, no fun. Everything was utterly predictable and drawn out to oversize.
The Hobbit always was the poor cousin of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It should be read beforehand, as an introduction, to set the scene, to introduce the various races and their traits. It should not be viewed on the big screen, not before, not after, not ever.
Well, perhaps not ever in this format. There is a reason I still gave some stars. The cinematography is as epic as in LOTR, the CGI is equally good. Perhaps we can have a director's cut that condenses all 3 instalments into on single 90 minute event, I would be willing to watch it once it hits TV.