Just saw it last night - Christmas movie night with my brother - and LOVED IT. Although I was definitely like, WTGF?! with Frodo and Sam getting all gushy and gazing soulfully into each other's eyes. That's the director's fault - half the reason those scenes were so weird was the hazy rosy glow over their faces.
And some of the plot changes...my brother re-read the books just a couple weeks ago and he was hopping mad about some of them. Like Frodo betraying Sam and making him leave him in Mordor - he never does that in the book.
Apparently that glass ball - I forgot its name, but it's the one in which Pippin saw Sauron's eye - plays a key role at the last battle. Sauron's eye isn't distracted from Frodo and Sam just because the orcs are getting attacked (do you really think he'd care??!), but because Aragorn uses that glass ball to trick Sauron into thinking that he, Aragorn, has the ring. THAT'S why the eye whips away from Frodo.
Finally, I'd like to add one more happy little comment about Legolas, the Sexy Elf. Yum yum yum.
