I went with a few friends and my two little sisters (9 and 11) to see this movie, and it's safe to say that we were brought unanimous satisfaction. Not only was the movie action-packed, as one would assume, but it was heartbreaking, funny, and legendary.
One thing that we all agreed on was that it certainly paid off to read the book first. There were at least ten moments in the movie that--had we not read the book--we wouldn't have grasped the full meaning of. Some of it, actually, we wouldn't have understood at all!
This is a MUST-SEE, but, even more so, it's a MUST-READ.