I saw it in unglorious three, and I stopped noticing it was in 3D after a short while. Which is a bad thing. Desolation of Smaug looked surprisingly much better in 3D, from what I can recall.

The reliance on CGI of this film was pretty shocking, especially considering Return of the King did a lot of the same things without it.

I think they took most of the scenes from what was originally intended to be the second film, stretched the hell out of it with boring action scenes and scenes saying "GREED IS BAAAAD", and released it as what it is now: hot air.

The opening just should've been part of the second film's climax. No need to wait another year for more Smaug (easily one of the best parts of these films) only to see him die in the first 10 minutes or so.

Also: Legolas showed that his skateboarding in The Two Towers and Fred Flintstone moment in Return of the King weren't the dumbest and most implausible things he did in these Middle Earth films.