Haven't seen it yet, did they leave a lot stuff out like in LOTR? I was really disappointed that Tom Bombadil wasn't in LOTR.
Ugh... Tom Bombadil was an annoying part of the LotR if you ask me. I did miss the Barrow-downs and the raid on the house in Buckland and such. No biggie though.
It seems to me The Hobbit is a pretty short book to make into three 2+ hour feature films... the first movie basically confirmed that in my mind. It seems to me they're trying to milk the franchise for all it's worth. I didn't like the first installment near as much as any of the LOTR movies.
I agree, I was wondering how they were going to do it. They have drastically expanded on the Dol Goldur storyline, and added a couple of new roles in the Woodland elves. Well, Legolas was in the other movies, but never mentioned in The Hobbit, and the new Tauriel elf IS hawt! I love her! Although the psuedo-love-triangle thing there has me really scratching my head. I don't like that aspect of it. Am I a Middle-Earth racist???? Who knows...
Anyways, Evangeline Lilly is very cool.
I think they did a great job on the movie, though, as above they have really expanded alot on the whole Smaug interaction, but that's ok with me, it's a big plus in the action, so I don't mind at all. I'm looking forward to Episode 3!
Overall, a big thumbs' up! I saw in Fort Smith's crappy theater in 3D, but I had purchased 4 tickets for Imax 3D in Tulsa. When my son got sick we decided not to go, so maybe next weekend we will. I can't wait to see it again, and seeing it in IMAX 3D would frigging ROCK!
Oh, and I thought Ender's Game was better than I expected, too. I'm going to get the books on my Kindle now.