Peter Jackson: The New George Lucas.

Rating: 5/10 (20 December 2013)

We all remember how George Lucas created an amazing trilogy called "Star Wars," then went back later to do a prequel trilogy and tried to destroy the franchise by focusing on ridiculous visual effects and neglecting the story entirely; so too has Peter Jackson fallen.
The five points I have given are purely for the visual aspect of the movie. It is amazing. But we all expected that.
0/5 for story. Tolkien wrote an amazing little (LITTLE) book called the Hobbit. Jackson could have fit the important and relevant parts of "An Unexpected Journey" into about an hour. It is the same here. There is a ridiculous amount of filler, needless side-plots, and a stupid (for lack of a better word) love triangle that makes a Ryan Reynolds romantic comedy seem deep. And I mean OK, I expect filler if you're going to turn a tiny book into three three hour movies, but at least keep what happens in the book if you're going to make stuff up. A few times scenes that were actually written by Tolkien feel rushed and cut short, while filler scenes seem to drag endlessly.
Smaug had the potential to be great, and started out that way, but the gross on screen overuse of his character makes you think of a brainless rat running through a maze searching for cheese rather than the majestic dragon we all grew up reading about.
I could keep on listing things I did not like (like bringing Legolas into the film to draw fans, and then overusing every cool thing he ever did in LOTR until you're sitting in your seat begging him to stop {ex, he surfs on EVERTYTHING}) but I am going to stop.
Go see the movie on principle, but don't go looking for the nostalgia of LOTR like I did. Because even though it should be there, any chance these films had of greatness was lost in the desperate attempt to turn what should have been one great film into a three year money making machine.