My friend dragged me to the movie, because I always drag him to see stuff he doesn't want to see. I did not like the LOTR Trilogy at all and I expected this to be equally lame.
I left the theater feeling as though I got my money worth. There was faster paced and better action scenes in this movie and as a guy who could care less about the source material, it was just fun.
Though if I ever say "good morning" to someone and I get that shitty response, then I will punch him in the face. Also, why even have the drawves there? Obviously Gandalf just does everything, so the other guys are just hanging out.