Yeah. Lemme add an actual spoiler tag to the subject since Levi pretended my DBO post had spoilers when it absolutely in no way, shape, or form did, but this post will absolutely have spoilers about this movie. And I mean heavy spoilers, so heads up if you don't want to know.

: My main problem was the fact that Peter Jackson just seems to be trying to
: recreate the epic that was Lord of the Rings, when The Hobbit (book) is
: much more lighthearted and smaller scale. While it's very important in the
: history of Middle Earth, it's not end of the world stuff like LotR is.
: It's just a hobbit and some dwarves on a grand adventure.

Well, Peter Jackson originally intended on making this two movies, but decided to squeeze out three movies instead from the Hobbit. One book with a size that doesn't compare to the three Lord of the Rings, which he managed to fit into one movie each, yet this Hobbit becomes three. How? Fan fiction!

: However, my understanding was that, while things were being added (Gandalf
: and Sauron in Dol Guldur, etc), it's all stuff that we know actually
: happened from The Appendices and Lost Tales, etc. Is this not how it
: played out?

So yeah, a few things. Legolas was never in the Hobbit, Tauriel never existed, the love triangle is thus completely made up, and yet all of them have such a large focus in this movie and only add to its length (and need for a third movie because of it). All of this being chased by orcs (which never happened) and Legolas fighting them and chasing and so on only also helps to add to its length and provide filler that never occurred. Granted it did make for a lot more fun with the barrel scene, which was essentially just them floating on down to Lake Town in the book (oversimplification lol), but hey. The ending has plenty of stuff that never happened, too. The dwarves trying to battle Smaug and their nifty idea using the forge to try and deal with Smaug. It just went on and on and then built up tension just in time to cut to credits right near the action's peak (note, in DBO thread I never even hinted at where the cut to credits happened or how or when or why, but yo spoilers son).

It's just like you said. The Hobbit is an adventure story. It's about a Hobbit and his journey. Some crazy big time things go down in it (which I'm sure will be the focus of large, over-expanded and depicted scenes in the final movie), yes, but it's still not LotR. The Lord of the Rings is the large epic tale, and Peter Jackson is doing everything possible to turn the Hobbit into that.

The film itself was actually pretty decent, and I enjoyed it, but when you actually know the story, it really really nags at you and pulls you out all over the place (in my opinion and in my experience), especially when the movie begins to drag or things become shallow. Way overwritten and trying too hard in multiple parts. Definitely better than the first Hobbit movie.

Oh and I'd like to say I really enjoyed Smaug and the CGI and voice acting, but the character never felt like a real character or thing like Gollum did. But alas, it is a gigantic dragon after all. I like Peter Jackson. I absolutely love all of the LotR movies. These Hobbit movies are wearing thin on me, even if the second was enjoyable. By the end of it, all I could think about was how this should never have been three movies long. Ever. Not sure if I want to see the third in theater at this point.