The visual / sound effects were great, but I thought the plot was a bit discombobulated. I didn't read the book, so I don't know if the director strictly followed the narrative, but at times, it felt like the movie was all over the place without any real connection between the scenes. Wasn't impressed with some of the acting. Some stuff that was meant to be funny, for instance, came out looking weird (you will know what I mean when you see it). Still, if you are into that stuff, I highly recommend to check it out. I give it strong 3.5 stars out of 5.
On IMDB (- I trust them more than anyone else), the avg. rating as of now is 7.8 outta 10 – quite close to what you give it. Must definitely be worth watching at least once.
Seems like rotten tomatoes is kind of on the same page too: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_hobbit_the_battle_of_the_five_armies/
The Metascore on IMDB and Tomatometer on Rottentomatoes show a bit lower (59/100 and 60% respectively) than the purely audience-based ratings. Not sure what the calculation or logic behind that is, but if there's a wild disparity between the two types, I don't think it's a good indication. Anyway, just checked the Wiki page on this movie. The budget is $250 million and Box Office collections as of now are as high as $573.6 million!! The movie has got a good response everywhere esp. in North America and has been acclaimed widely by critics. Though not a bigtime fan of fantasy genre, I'm definitely gonna check it out by the next weekend. Well, hope to at least.
I have seen all of the previous Hobbit movies and will likely see this one, as well. However, because these movies tend to be about three hours long, I prefer to wait until they come out on DVD so that they can be paused for a break or two during the movie. I really do not like being glued to a seat for that length of time.
I know, right? I specifically didn't have a sip of water an hour before I went to the movie so that I could watch it uninterrupted.
'The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies' was released on 17th December – just a few days back. So it's probably a long wait for you till the movie is out on home video. I have the same problem when it comes to watching lengthy movies. Unless it's exceedingly captivating, I can't stay put for more than an hour. Even when in a cinema, I tend to walk out every hour, grab a bite or sip and then return.