I absolutely loved the series, and I was desperately hoping that the movie would turn out to be just as good.
But there is only one thing that you have to keep in mind. The book and the movie are two completely different things. I knew before hand the the movie wouldn't be anything like the book, so I wasn't expecting it to be. Thats why I really enjoyed it as much as I did.
There were bound to be major changes done to the film, I just wasn't happy that they deleted quite a few of the characters, not to mention some bigger scenes in the book.
Other than the complete change of plot, and the throwing out of characters, I loved the movie. I will just have to love the movie and the books at different times.