A great film lurks beneath the surface of a merely competent one. Script development to tease out intriguing ideas - for instance, giving the dwarves a purpose - and cutting down on travel time in favour of more interesting things could have transformed this.

Theron is great as always with the limited material she has to work with, and Hemsworth is acquitting himself as an amiable leading man. Kristen Stewart isn't terrible but they could have easily placed someone better in the role.