Looks good, sounds good, but lacking depth

Rating: Null/10 (24 December 2012)

This film is technically superb. The visuals are stunning. OK, 3D HFR is a but of a gamble, but at least the option of 2d with or without HFR is there as well. The film is long, but there is enough going on to keep the film entertaining enough.
But what lets this film down? One is characterisation. Given the film length, it shouldn't really have suffered from that. There are many characters, true, but Bilbo's character should have had more focus, but when he did, he didn't seem to be all that believable to me. The transition from being adamant about not going on the journey to joining it was not played out very well. Then his willingness to risk his life for the ponies from being eaten by the trolls didn't seem that well done either. These things we must just accept. This is what seemed to let the film down. The lack of the emotional journey. In Fellowship of the Ring, you seem to understand the subtle changes, and relationships displayed there. That is what makes the film stronger than this one.
Another failing for me was the amount of over exaggerated action sequences. Classic films tend to have a few real cliffhangers. This is after you are made to really care for the characters involved. The amount of contrived tension squeezed out of every scene was a bit embarrassing. Especially the last sequence in the trees. Some of the action scenes such as the fight scene against the goblins was like a cross between Super Mario World and Sonic the Hedgehog. Also, too many one in a million chance things happening one after another. It does take away from the reality (I know it is fantasy), but it makes it a bit like a Disney cartoon.
One of the best things about the film was the Riddles in the Dark sequence, which was very close to the book, and therefore very suspenseful. Other good things included the atmosphere and the scenery.