Technically superior; far, far too long

Rating: 5/10 (20 March 2014)

It takes less time to read the entire book than watch one installment of this "trilogy". Peter Jackson must have needed work badly to participate in, or create this overblown epic.
I find it shocking that viewers have rated it above 8. Yes, it looks good. That and the fact that there's hardly any toilet humor, except in the most literal sense, are the only reasons I rated it as high as 5. Beyond that, it suffers J.K. Rowling syndrome,i.e., the love of one's own voice and the inability to edit. Or is the motivation monetary? The action sequences are too numerous and too long. Indeed, everything is too long.
The charm of the book is nowhere to be found. Well, I did notice Martin Freeman trying to inject some at a couple of points, but his efforts are are lost in a sea of effects and needless action. Also, there can't be any climax because everything is so amped up from the start. When not amped up, it's needlessly dreary. Is Kiwi weather relentlessly gray or something?
Finally, I'm getting sick of movie-makers changing books and adding characters to suit their own vision, or please some imagined demographic. People love a good story. I do. But this one's so bogged down by effluvium that I can't imagine sitting through the opening credits again, let alone the entire flick.
The entire trilogy boiled down into one two-hour (maximum) movie. That I might watch. That's what it should have been. Otherwise, they won't get any more money out of me. I'm officially in protest. You should be too.