Now of course, I wont say critics are everything and I have hated many films that critics loved, but I worry a bit of fanboy mentality has come into play here. You frequently say that PJ has ruined your childhood, and this tells me that you already had a certain way you wanted the film to be done due to you reading the books.

I haven't seen the film but am planning to see it this Sunday. I must admit, AUJ was perfect in my opinion, I don't think those chapters could have been portrayed any better on screen. DOS was appalling! The only segments I enjoyed was Mirkwood (before the barrel-chase), the scenes at Dol Guldur (all of them, even the Thrain extended scene a little bit), and finally Cumberbatch's peerless performance as Smaug. That said, for TBOFA to wow me less than DOS it would have to be a sincerely dreadful film.

I already expect Beorn to be little more than a screen-grab at some point, as if he's a movie mistake that someone in a dark room has spent months trying to find! But seeing as I don't like his film version I'm happy to overlook him. Smaug will inevitably die in the opening scenes, which annoys me. To me, this is the same issue as having Boromir die in the opening chapter of Two Towers - it works on paper but makes no sense in film, and PJ admitted this back in the day, so why has he turned on his word for Smaug in the Hobbit, who is certainly a more prevalent character that Boromir in LOTR? But I am looking forward to all Dol Guldur scenes again, especially with Sir Lee kicking spectral Nazgul ass! I hope we get to see the development of his downfall though, maybe Sauron could show him visions of a world where the two of them claim dominion, like Saruman witnesses through the Palantir in LOTR.

Finally, a rant about Legolas and Tauriel. Imagine if the two characters weren't in the Hobbit... oh wait, they're not, but I'm referring to the films of course. If there was no Legolas or Tauriel, a lot of failings in the films would be avoided =

1 - No need for a second villain (Bolg, Azog), just have one of them
2 - No need for Kili and co. to be stuck in Lake Town still
3 - No need to watch CGI Legolas' circus performances yet again
4 - No need for the Dwarf/Elf love triangle
5 - No need for about two hours (from the whole trilogy) of unnecessary footage which could be better spent focusing on more important characters/scenes = Beorn would have his encounter with Azog/Bolg - although as said earlier I don't like Persbrandt's Beorn. Thranduil would have more screentime - he's better than Legolas and Tauriel combined. And, of course, Smaug would have more screentime - assuming much of his is cut to cram in Elven choreography sequences
6 - MOST IMPORTANTLY - they wouldn't get in the way of the Dwarves and Bilbo. This trilogy was a chance to see some talented actors flesh out identities for the 14 most important characters in one of literature's most beloved books, but this hasn't happened. Freeman is a fantastic Bilbo, but to me he is still outstaged by Gandalf, Legolas, Azog and at times, Tauriel. Thorin has the same problem. This is a great shame because Freeman and Armitage are incredible actors and I want them to really own this trilogy, because they deserve to, but I feel like PJ is clinging too strongly to themes and characters from the LOTR films. Of the 12 other Dwarves, only Balin, Dwalin, Bofur and Kili do/say anything worthwhile, other than that, we just have 8 pointless bearded buffoons rambling alongside them - with Bombur for laughs. In the books, even though most don't speak much, every Dwarf is individual and offers something for the grand quest ahead of them, but in the films, I feel like the few Dwarves I've named above would have fared fine without the others at all.

I've got my fingers and toes crossed that TBOFA will rekindle my love for the franchise, because at some points it truly deserves it, but a lot of the time I end up disappointed and I know a lot of others on here feel the same. As much as I didn't like whining Frodo in the LOTR trilogy, I still sympathised with him at the end of the journey, I felt his pain as he climbed Mount Doom, and Sam's sickening sorrow when he sees Frodo succumb to the ring just as Isildur had many years before, and when he departs into the west at the close of the film, I even shed a tear (I was only 9 ). But with The Hobbit, I don't care about the characters. Thorin doesn't deserve sympathy in death, and neither do Kili or Fili because I haven't spent time knowing them as characters. Fili could die off-screen and I wouldn't even notice. But anyway, like I said, my fingers and toes are crossed that I will enjoy TBOFA. Despite all this moaning I am looking forward to it with an open mind, the dynamics of the battle and the encounter between Sauron and the White Council will be interesting to watch unfold on-screen, and I'd like to know how it ends too. I wonder if Balin (my favourite Dwarf in-book and on-film) makes it to Bag-End for a little catch-up with Bilbo at the end. That would be nice. To be honest, if that scene is still in it, the rest of the film can just be a montage of Legolas' greatest hits and I'd still give it five stars!