First off, I am a huge fan of both the books and the movies and I understand that the material has to be changed for the movie adaptation. Now with that said, I felt this was a good movie but not great like some of the past efforts. I think it suffers from being only part of the end. The last book would have probably made a good 3 hour movie, but that hurts the family audience it was seeking. The pace was just a little too slow. Hopefully, the next part picks it up a lot.
It is a sequel that is bigger and louder than its predecessor, but has the same problem of a nonsensical plot. A popcorn movie that has no delusions of being anything but what it is.