I dismissed the usual Liberal Hollywood overtones (which is getting easier and easier to do it seems, because it's to be expected in almost every movie) before the movie began and sat back and let the movie take me on it's journey.
Make no mistake; there will be no acting award nominations from this movie, but who cares? The movie was awesome. The effects and visualizations were out of this world (pardon the pun). And yes the movie is very long, but I feel that I really got my money's worth. Leave your expectations and critic hat at home and enjoy the ride!