Emphasis on visuals

Rating: 6/10 (3 January 2015)

I've never read the books or seen the previous movies, but I still expected to understand the movie because I assumed each movie in the franchise would stand on it's own. Well, that's not the case. I couldn't understand the first 25% of the movie. It got better after that but the emphasis was on fighting and visuals. The plot and character development was weak, and for most characters, non existent. There are a few scenes that are just so ridiculous they're stupid. For example, the hobbit (whatever his name is) was killing orcs by throwing rocks at them. One rock was all it took to knock down a giant monster. Seriously? lol. My only other minor complaint is the hobbit's feet, which kind of grossed me out. It seems the costume designers went out of their way to make his feet look as big, as gnarled, as hairy and as filthy as possible. I kept hoping he'd put socks on or someone would throw him a pair of shoes. Anything.