Very Disappointing

Rating: 6/10 (26 January 2014)

I had high hopes for this one. The first one was fair. There were problems, but all in all a good effort. This was the place where they would either bring it back or go completely in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, they went completely in the wrong direction. The Hobbit story is a good story. I read it when I was young and I know many others who did or at least tried as well. They only criticism I'd ever heard was that Tolkien could be a little dry. But it was a good story and there was no need to change it so drastically. I understand that they were trying to develop subplots in order to extend the story and stretch it into 3 movies, but please. I wonder if the people responsible for writing the screenplay ever actually read the book or just the Cliffs Notes version. If they had actually read the book, they would have seen that there was plenty of story there for 3 movies without ruining the story. But they didn't. So yes, they ruined the story. I don't post a lot of reviews, but in this case I couldn't resist. I guess we'll have to wait for someone else to come along perhaps 30 or 40 years from now to do it right. Until then we can watch the animated version and pretend this movie doesn't exist.
I gave it a 6 because the visuals and effects were very cool. The dragon was great. 6 might be generous. I give it about a 4 for what they did to the story and 8 for visuals. The average is 6..