Smeagol/Gollum is among the legendary movie characters, and I felt he was a welcome addition to the movie. He's as annoying as usual, but I did like the faces he made during the game he played with the title character, which I think were more varied/complex than he had in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I also enjoyed the character of the eccentric animal-lover wizard. The trolls (ugly, disgusting giants) represent great character design and so do the orcs, complete with their wolves. Pity none of it is actually new. I dislike the excessive complexity of the battle scene... serious waste of money and effort. I also hate it when characters go through way too much physical pounding, as in when the rock giants fight (a ridiculous and unexplained moment), and the Dwarf escape.