I loved The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein. This movie is nothing even remotely resembling it.

Rating: 1/10 (3 January 2014)

The Hobbit is one of my all-time favourite books.
Being slightly disappointed with Peter Jackson's work with Tolkein's books previously, I walked into the theatre with the expectation of some amount of deviance from the book. However, I was not prepared for what I was faced with.
The inclusion of an extra character left me scratching my head for quite some time. Tauriel is apparently a Mirkwood elf. She is also apparently a love interest for both Kili and Legolas. I can't understand why Jackson chose to weaken the robust storyline with the inclusion of a love triangle, especially when there is an enmity between Elves and Dwarfs. This vastly underplays the insular nature of the Sindarin Elves and breaks the concepts Tolkein set in place.
The inclusion of "hints" towards the future of TLotR were quite distracting and showed that Jackson didn't care if he was playing fast and loose with the time lines. In the books, Sauron wasn't even a whiff of smoke in Gandalf's mind until after he had knowledge of the ring.
But most of all, I REALLY had an issue with the dragon being dipped in gold. Isn't it enough that his belly is encrusted in coins? Tolkein provided awesome descriptives of what happened. Why change it to such an extent?
This isn't the movie I wanted to watch. I wanted to watch the Hobbit, by J.R.R.Tolkein. Instead, I got the Hobbit Ripoff by Peter Jackson. If you love the book for what it is, this movie may cause unexpected anger.