Never having read more than the first third of the first book in this series, I'm offering this review only as a movie goer. As a movie, this film disappoints. It felt like The Pursuit of Happyness, scene upon scene of bad news, and any happiness was short lived. There is no real character development. I feel like quoting Chaucer from A Knight's Tale when he gets asked what he's doing. "trudging...the slow, weary, depressing yet determined walk of a man (or in this case, movie franchise) who has nothing left in life except the impulse to simply soldier on."