I had posted before that it was odd that so many people had posted positive reviews. I guess they were just hiding for awhile. I agree though (and I assure you that I am a fan of the books and sensitive to the integrity of the story) these movies are pretty well done. I think you have to at least imagine what it would take to make the movie visually appealing when porting from a book. The book as some pretty dry parts that just wouldn't do well and I think Jackson nods to a lot of them. In my review, I will stick to the negatives being preferences that really do not hurt the movie but they were annoyances none the less. The first Hobbit was ok to me but I was satisfied with it being the starting point and knowing that there was more to come. I didn't judge it as I would a stand alone movie. Just as I didn't the others. Honestly, I not near the fan of Fellowship as a movie alone as I am the other two parts but, in context I think it is a very good chapter to a movie-based story if you will.
Everyone has their taste and opinion... that's completely cool but I guess I feel about the same way as I do when people say "Lebron James sucks..." You may not like him, maybe even hate him but he's arguably one of the best skilled players we've seen in years. Anyway, I'm more confident saying after Hobbit DoS, that as a fan of the book, how can you be too dissatisfied? It's really all about getting to see Smaug right? That's the only major visualization anyone and everyone who has read the Hobbit would ever want to know/see and they delivered. Everything else, goblins, dwarves, etc. all have a lot of artistic freedom but the real measuring stick was Smaug and that was awesome.
