[octothorp]

Just got back from it. Here's my roughly scene-by-scene review of what I liked and didn't.

Spoiler!

Prologue: loved this. The Erebor backstory is a great way to frame this in terms of the middle-earth universe, establish the scale of the story. Also, gorgeous scene to look at. And I love that it's told by the elder Bilbo.
At bag-end: I struggled with this a bit. I was still getting used to the 48FPS, which honestly is most noticeable in a negative way in these relatively close-in scenes. Still, a great job of introducing the dwarfish cast, some decent comedy.
Early travels: only part of the movie that felt really sluggish to me.
The Trolls: sorry, hated this scene. It's pretty slapstick in the book too, as I recall it, so there's little way to do it any other way. Yet it doesn't really feel consistent with the trolls of LotR, which were pretty serious and badass.
Radaghast: I would have preferred him a little less comical, but I loved his inclusion here. There's some obvious questions about the timing here: he seemed to get from Dol Guldar to the west in no time flat, even for a giant rabbit sled. But those are the sorts of liberties Jackson has always taken (Elves arriving at Helm's Deep about five minutes after Elrond and Galadriel decide to send them).
Azog and the orc chase: Decent. I like the way they're using him as a consistent villain who pushes the tempo, similar to the Nazgul in LotR.
Rivendale: I loved the way that they very subtly showed Bilbo falling in love with the place, without him saying one word to that effect. White Council was a good inclusion, especially since these are all characters we love from LotR. And while there wasn't much here, it's moreso what this means for the future movies.
Stone Giants: This is where I really began to get the 48 FPS. The incredible sharp clarity of the wet, shattering stones was really gorgeous, and this was a great sequence.
Goblin King: As with the trolls, I wasn't really a fan of the CGI here. His fleshiness didn't really look authentic. But the goblin city was great.
Gollum: Best scene of the movie. It's one of the best scenes in the book, and will probably go down as one of the best scenes in the films.
Escape from the goblins: One of the best action sequences Jackson has ever done, rivalling the dinosaur/Kong fight in King Kong or the elephants in RotK. Amazingly choreographed and brought to life.
Into the fire: I really liked the changes to this from the book. The reason this whole movie worked for me is making the whole narrative about Bilbo's acceptance within the company. The book put more emphasis on the dwarves recognizing Bilbo's skill as a burglar, but here it's more about his bravery and loyalty to the company, which honestly makes a much better story.
Epilogue: loved the thrush/dragon-eye. Great way to end the movie.

Overall: Honestly, I didn't feel any of the problems with the pace that others mentioned. For me there were only a few minutes in the movie where I was really aware of any pacing issues, and those were early on. Some of the CGI villains were a little too cartoony, like the goblin king and trolls. I've raved before about the character design of the dwarves, and the way their different personalities are developed is also very well done. Martin Freeman as Bilbo is great, and all the returning characters did their job well.
Given that the rest of the story calls for fewer trolls/goblins, and more orcs/spiders/dragons and possibly nazgul, I'm excited about how the next two are going to go, as for me the relatively weak and silly monsters were the only failing of this film.

For what it's worth, my wife hated it.