If you love the books, then the key to enjoying the movie is to view it as a separate work. If everything in the book was included in the movie, it would be a mini-series - not a movie.
The direction and cinematography in this film were excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed the character development in this film. Those that have been disappointed in the film probably would have preferred less character development and more action, but this film is lacking in neither.
There's always more that you wished could have been included in the film, but at 2 1/2 hours it would have been difficult to put much more in.