Questionable content, but the production values save a lot

Rating: Null/10 (13 January 2014)

I honestly and truly love The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Peter Jackson was a miracle director that suddenly appeared to our collective consciousness and somehow managed to film three films that were pretty much all we had ever wanted from LotR films. All the characters felt just right, the visuals were absolutely gorgeous and Jackson had this gift for selecting just the right scenes and filming them in just the right way so that the films, long as though they were, never felt like they were either too long-winded or too hasty in order to cover more ground quickly. Of course not every decision Jackson made was the right call and there were some things that could have been done better, but as a whole they earned all the hype they received.
Alas, it would seem that Jackson cannot repeat this feat a second time. The first Hobbit film wasn't yet so bad. True, the tone was at the same too goofy to function as a proper prequel to the LotR films, yet it was too dark for it really feel like they were adapting a children's book to the silver screen. Jackson tried for the middle road and in the process didn't fully please either of the camps. This same problem continues in the second Hobbit film, in which all of Jackson's worst tendencies from the previous films come back with vengeance. The adoration of elves above all else (I'm looking at you Legolas), his disdain for dwarfs (they're more than comic reliefs, you know) and overly choreographed fight scenes (there's really no tension in it when your first reaction is to laugh at just how absurd some of the fight moves are). And this time Jackson even covers some new ground by starting to skip over certain scenes that all fans had been waiting for in order for him to add in new non-canon content that wasn't wanted or needed. Admittedly some of it works, like the upgrade to the legend of Black Arrow, but some of it falls flat instantly, like the weird romance between an elf and a dwarf. I would have much preferred to spend more time with Beorn instead of spending a single minute with that study in awkwardness.
All that being said, I still can't deny that I didn't enjoy the heck out of this film. Most of the cast is still rock solid (McKellen, Freeman, Armitage are especially delightful to watch), the visuals are at worst just merely beautiful and at best they're mind-blowingly gorgeous. I was somewhat dreading the introduction of Smaug in this film, but he turned out okay. Not sure I understand why they with a wyvern-style design for him when the original Smaug in Tolkien's drawings clearly isn't one, but that's me nitpicking.
Furthermore, the action scenes, while more than a bit silly and non-threatening, do look nice and are pleasant to follow. And as stated, some of the new additions are genuinely interesting and patch up some of the inconsistencies and flights of fantasy of the original book. It's a shame that we have to take all these good inventions with the bad ones.
Is it worth watching? If you've liked the films so far, then sure, you'll get your fix of Middle-Earth from this. If you were dissatisfied with the first Hobbit film, this isn't going to change your mind.