Johnny Ringo said:
right now i'd say 2.5 balls pending a second viewing. I'll be more forgiving if the Necromancer stuff pays off later.
I agree about the poor job identifying the dwarves, but I feel like that was an issue left over from the source material. Even in the book, most of the dwarves are background with only a few standing out and being notable.
As for the Necromancer stuff, it is a pretty major plot line, should end up being pretty cool in the end, and will tightly connect the two trilogies together. Plus he is played by Benedict Cumberbatch, which should be cool.
Ultimately, the story of The Hobbit is not very exciting and is a very low stakes adventure. I am more excited about the Necromancer and the stuff connected to that plot line than anything else in this trilogy.