I'm writing this review whilst still having only watched it in HFR 3D. Firstly, I thought the movie was brilliant in general but I shall delve a little deeper...

I shall start with the positives:

1. Soundtrack - Absolutely brilliant. I love the Misty Mountains theme that runs throughout the movie which really helped me to connect with was going. Howard Shore is amazing.

2. Cinematography - There were truly some amazing shots in the movie. I love the sweeping views of landscapes that we were so used to in LOTR.

3. Acting - Martin Freeman played Bilbo perfectly. He was just as I imagined him in the book. Humourous, slightly awkward but with a real hidden courage underneath.

4. Additional content - I thought the addition of the White Council scene was great, it give us a breather and created a bit of suspense for the future movies. The addition of Azog as the antagonist was quite successful, otherwise the movie would have seemed a little pointless. (I know it might not follow Tolkien lore, but it worked).

5. HFR - Amazing. Took a wee while to get used to but it gives such clarity and fluidity. I was a bit uneasy about it before I watched the movie twice in this format but it is a raging success.

I'll have a look at some negatives now. Bearing in mind that there may be more negatives than positives, but they're really only minor problems I found.

1. Visuals of Azog - OK, so I thought the story aspect of Azog was great. Unfortunately, I felt that the way he looked was slightly fake. He seemed too 'clean'. I was expecting a dirty great orc, much like the Urak-hai in LOTR and it made him seem a little less scary.

2. 3D - This is more against 3D in general. I don't think I'm sold on 3D cinema yet. It feels like there's something in my face all the time and I find it slightly hard to watch.

3. Goblin caves - This didn't look anywhere near what I had in my head. I was expecting narrow tunnels not a massive cavern full of wooden platforms, but maybe that's more my problem!

4. The Eagles - They didn't talk? I was quite disappointed with this but perhaps they will in the next movie...

OK, so maybe I don't have more negatives after all! I think that's most of my views on the movie which was overall very good. 9/10.

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