OK . . . . , I'm also a huge Tolkien fan and actually sat through over 9 hours of LOTR at the première for the last film in New Zealand, sat in a cinema of elves, hobbits, orcs and wizards - a fantastic night!
I didn't really like the quality of the production, felt low budget compared to the LOTR trilogy. I saw it in 2D and the 48 FPS to me made it look poor quality. I was confused at the beginning as it departed from the book and started I know not where with Bilbo and Frodo at Bag End. Need to research that as it could be my error?
It was good once it got going and I felt more into it, feeling like I had returned to Middle Earth. It really kicked up a gear and excelled when Gollum entered the story, as Andy Serkis is pure class in the role. It ended well too and the scenes at Rivendell were also superb, as was the acting from both Lord Elrond (Hugo Weaving) and the Lady Galadriel (Kate Blanchett).
So a stuttering start for me, the frame rate actually made it appear poor quality, not sure if that's universal or the cinema I was at, but others have said the same.
So all in all I had slightly mixed feelings after the splendour of the LOTR trilogy, but even for Peter Jackson that is a hard act to follow. Everything just clicked for that production, not just the film and story but also the cast, who felt it was a one off special never to be repeated.