Review Detail

Absolutely accomplishes what it sets out to do, by reducing the bloated Hobbit trilogy to an enjoyable length by cutting out non-sourced sections, and does so with visual enhancements that bring the end product much closer to something worthy of sitting next to the best versions of the LOTR films -- the Red Book cuts, for my money. However, unlike those which are necessarily more episodic in nature, cutting down the Hobbit films to just novel beats has the effective of causing the pacing to be somewhat lopsided and anticlimatic as others have noted. Characters' relationships feel undeveloped one moment and then fully formed the next, with the actual growth missing, and sections of information missing but referred back to in a few places (mostly to do with the Elvish enclaves and their politicking).

A technical marvel, but there may be other versions of the Hobbit that provide a slightly more organic viewing experience. (I've got about a half-dozen to hand so my work is cut out for me...)