My daughter and I went to see this at the midnight showing at our local theater. We were not disappointed. As an avid fan of the books I was please that the story did not sway too far from the books. as a fan of the books who has read them numerous times I can see that some fans who have not read the books may be confused in some places...if they were paying close attention. But all in all the movie was excellent. I am sure that no fan of any book turned to movie will be 100% satisfied - I would have given the movie 4.5 stars if that was an option only for the fact that small details were left out that I felt were essential to the story - but I left the theater with a smile and more excited for Part Two.
On a side note I heard from various critics that this movie is not for kids, while it is dark and there are some images of death I brought my 10 year old daughter who has seen all the movies and I never felt once that this movie was inappropriate for her. Maybe if you have kids 7 or younger you may want to watch it first and then decide but I felt that the PG-13 rating was just a recommendation. ENJOY! IT WAS WORTH SEEING IT ON THE BIG SCREEN. And if you have the extra cash get the D-Box seats when I go for part 2 I will definitely spring for those - the people that sat in them said the experience was amazing.