Jackson managed to do something that I never thought was possible--make me care about a Hobbit tale. He also delivered one of the best cliffhangers of the year. Kudos to that.

Nearly everyone in the film is creaking under the weight of the past.

The tale has no emotional resonance, and the thinness of the plot (only five of the book's chapters are adapted here) and the colorless depictions of the leading characters do it no favors.

I guess at least this time, instead of walking, they're mostly running.