I have mixed feelings on the Hobbit. All of Gandalf's side-stories were great, and they weren't part of the original book, but they are part of known lore, so I have a hard time saying it should be shorter when a lot of what made it good was added content. The romance is weak, but I understand why they felt they needed a prominent female character (having love as the only thing that can motivate a female character to take part in a story is such a cliche though, I think if you give her non-romantic motivations she's immediately a better character).
Prior to Battle of Five Armies coming out, I really thought that they could salvage the trilogy and have it be respectable. But the actual battle in that movie is an absolute mess, both visually and in pacing. I blame, in part, a willingness to fully embrace CGI that wasn't there in LotR, where they were still trying to do as much as possible with practical effects.
There are little elements in the Hobbit I love, including Martin Freeman's acting which I think is spot-on. And the physical fighting style of the dwarves is really well done, it gives them an identity different from anything else in Middle Earth.
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