I suppose enough people will go see this film to warrant a bigger discussion thread to collect all thoughts, opinions and reviews you may want to share. We didn't do that in a while. Enjoy

As for my own thoughts...
Middle Earth is in good hands with Jackson. Yes, the purists will find plenty of things to complain about. We've known since the announcement of no less than three parts that they'd blow up those films quite a bit with content. And sometimes it shows, especially in the first half. Some sequences are much longer than they'd have to be. That doesn't mean the movie is ever boring, but you can already tell that the whole story would have fit into two films and changes from the book have been made.

That being said, it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling to return to this world. Jackson, or Howard Shore to be precise, knows exactly at which moments he has to repeat the right well-known soundtrack melodies and what that does with the audience. It's like visiting an old friend.

An old friend you haven't seen for a while and who has changed, despite of the well known face. It takes a bit to get back into it, but once the dwarves keep pouring through the door things get highly amusing and interesting. Some of the dwarves get much more of a character (and lines) than others, so the favorites are easily picked but that may even out with the later films.

The acting is great. Freeman is the perfect choice as young Bilbo, McKellen repeats his Gandalf as if ten years never passed, every recurring character is spot-on again. The winner has to be Serkis' Gollum once again, though. Special effects have upgraded since the last film and it shows, but once again it is his acting that shines through and makes his scenes some of the most enjoyable of the film.

People who are allergic to over the top, batshit crazy action scenes will probably get a rash during the last half an hour, but personally, it drove the film home for me. They built movie theaters for fun, larger than life and unrealistic candy like that. The hardcore fans of the book may wonder why we are witnessing stone giants reenacting the Beastie Boys' "Intergalactic" video, the rest of the audience will have a blast.

This is by no means a flawless film, what with a couple of continuity and even editing errors, but you can tell how much love went into it and the result is just massive fun. The final scene can't make you more eager for next Christmas to come.

9 out of 10 stone giant headbutts.