Saw it last night... well... really very early this morning...

I don't have any problem with omitting the Scouring, but I do have a problem with the film's failure to have any closure at all for the Saruman character. Jackson leaves Saruman in Isengard under the watch of the Ents and that's the last that's said of the matter. In the book, that decision was a mistake. In the movie it bears no consequences. Saruman is too important a character for his fate to be so open-ended.

In having Grima kill Saruman, Tolkien's point is that those who gain power by manipulating others will eventually abuse those they manipulate to the point of having the abused strike back and destroy them. In leaving Saruman's fate in limbo, Jackson has ignored this theme. He should still have had Grima kill Saruman, whether he included the Scouring in the story or not. Such a killing taking place in Isengard itself would not be inappropriate.   

Other than that, the movie was superb. The "aerial" shots of Minas Tirith alone are worth the price of admission. And the orcs are even uglier than in the other two movies.

Bruce