Fabulous Thranduil would be the only reason I go to see this one. I only saw the second one because it was insanely hot and I thought three hours in the cinema's air conditioner seemed like a good idea. Though that Galadriel stuff looks pretty awesome.

My introduction to the Hobbit was a two-and-a-half-hour-including-intermission stage version with incredible puppets (and a human Gandalf). So it can certainly be done in a shorter amount of time.