The Hobbit, the battle to work up enough enthusiasm to watch the new movie

So I went to watch the new hobbit movie.

Short review: If you didn't like the rest of the movies, you probably won't like this movie.

Now I am not any kind of a purist when it comes to Tolkien movies.  I read The Hobbit almost thirty years ago, and haven't touched it since.  I read all the LOTR books, after watching the movies, and decided I didn't have to keep the books.  I bought the silly-marilly-ion book, and got rid of it after realizing I had no interest in reading it.  I have the super-deluxe DVD collections of the LOTR movies, but mostly I keep those because I found the special features fascinating.  I played The Lord of the Rings Online for years, more out of boredom and being free to play than anything else (I really, REALLY wanted to be able to go on a hobbit killing spree in the Shire).

It's merely an 'OK' movie.  To quote Caesar in the History of the World, part 1:  Nice.  Not great, just nice.  You could do far worse than to watch this movie, especially as a fantasy fan.  Though watching the huge, improbable battle at the end, I find myself wishing they'd do a Warhammer Fantasy movie.