I am not necessarily fond of 3D movies. All to often the are used as a smoke screen for very bad writing. And although I am extremely familiar with the works of JRR Tolkien, the screen writing was refreshing. if you have parted the pages of the book, you will find the telling of the tale a bit redundant but the effects and character interplay more than makes up for it. I had read some criticism of the film speed and special effects that made me very intrigued. My oldest son is a professional film editor and he had mentioned some of the flaws regarding those. However I was pleasantly surprised as the use of the 3D effects gave more depth to the usual fine cinematography, without appearing hokey. So, overall, I would recommend this movie to anyone, even if you we're not a fan of Peter Jackson's original trilogy, there is a great story here.