Incredibly Disappointing

Rating: 5/10 (16 December 2013)

i never thought i would have to write a review like this, being a massive fan of the LOTR trilogy and having liked the first Hobbit installment so much. This movie is just the Hobbit in name only, far too many liberties were taken with the original source material, and even though this happened in the LOTR trilogy, at least those plot changes were plausible or, dare i say it, an improvement.
Here they were obviously just to provide filler for a middle movie that is not required. Some of the plot changes were so diabolical that Tolkien must be spinning in his grave.
I realise i must come across as a Tolkien purist but anyone who loved the last trilogy as much as i did, and really enjoyed the first Hobbit can't be labelled as such. This movie was unnecessary, it doesn't advance the story much and could easily have been incorporated into the first and 3rd movies. It was as if the producers and director of later Pirates movies had taken over the franchise.
I veered between boredom and anger while watching this, as well as feeling conned that it was just a way to make extra money from one of the most loyal and greatest movie fan-bases around. it also felt like a vehicle for the wooden Orlando Bloom. Evangiline Lilly did well with a character that was unnecessary.
i will watch the last installment of this franchise out of a sense of loyalty and hope that it will be much better. Based on this film, it really couldn't get any worse sadly.