Saw this at last on Saturday. Really enjoyed it and have to see it again soon, but my expectations were a little too high. It was close to the book, but changed pace a bit too fast. I was expecting a more constant pace, building up to the battle at Helms Deep.
Most of it was just like I had imagined it, with the exception of the battle, Gollum and the Ent’s attack on Orthanc. I couldn’t get the visualization right for any of them before and the movie fixed it.