Opening paragraph of AO Scott's NY Times review of The Hobbit...
"In The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Peter Jackson’s adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s first Middle-earth fantasy novel, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) sets out with the wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and a posse of dwarfs to battle a fearsome dragon. [Spoiler alert] they do not kill the dragon, although [spoiler alert] they eventually will, within the next 18 months or so, because [spoiler alert] this “Hobbit,” which is [migraine alert] 170 minutes long, is the opening installment in [film critic suicide-watch alert] a trilogy..."
He was not impressed. It might be time to re-read National lampoon's Bored of the Rings.