I didn’t like that they turne “The Hobbit” into an epic adventure like “Lord of the Rings”
LOTR was huge, The Hobbit was smaller and light-hearted. The moives don’t capture that and add so much that was not in the books
What, was the book not good enough for them? they had to add to it?
I kept looking at the screen and going ‘what is this? this wasn’t in the book”
But... if you are not a purist that way it is an awesome movie. I did like it very much
I was hopping for the fun of the original book. The funny and childish way Bilbo taunts the spiders (calling them “addercop” which is the worst insult you can make to a spider) was gone- replace with horror-story theatrics.
Getting lost in the forest is completely redone- and escaping from the elves smuggled in wine barrels is replaced by a fight scene.
Etc. Etc.
If you like this kind of thing (and I do - especially in 3D!!!) and are not familiar with the books (or don’t care that they took too much literary license on the details) then you will like it.
BONUS: NO detectable liberal bias!
The only quasi-political thing I had a problem with was a brief bit of dialogue, where Tauriel was belittled as "just a lowly wood elf" or words to that effect. That single line has the potential to introduce a Pandora's Box of non-Tolkien politics to the series.
The line strongly implies that (contrary to everything in the books) King Thranduil and Legolas are part of a caste of High Elves (distinguished by their blond hair) who rule over the brown-haired wood elves in a sort of Elven Jim Crow regime. In the books they are all wood elves. I really, really do not want any kind of lecture on "racial privilege", particularly from a Tolkien film. I just hope they forget this line in the third film and do not go there any further.