Watched the final part of the Hobbit yesterday, so here's my impression:
- too much padding. Having the master of Laketown drown in his gold is one thing, watching his sidekick take up ten minutes of useless filler is another.
- the battle of the five armies...Thorin was supposed to be clad in gold armor and actually lead all of the allied forces as a general but instead he was limited to a morale-boosting sortie, he should be fighting with an axe, plus his final fight was dragged (and he should have passed away on his deathbed after the battle, not mid-war).
Not to mention, he never got the arkenstone! What the hell is up with that, seriously... Normally, the Arkenstone was placed upon Thorin's chest within his tomb deep under the Lonely Mountain, and so was returned to the earth at last. In the movie, we don't get to see what happened to it.
- speaking of things that never were, Balin's visit to Bilbo was also omitted...the one that recounts everyone's fate after the war.
- The pyramid-head who breached the city walls. That scene was funny as hell, followed by the (not really) human bridge another troll made later
- A friend of mine complained about Legolas jumping on falling stones, saying it was impossible. I say, Legolas is an elf, he can totally use fey step to ignore difficult terrain! Now, being proficient in longbow, straight sword AND dual wielding daggers is another issue...
- Best scene of the movie: Thranduil getting a multikill on the antlers of his reindeer.
- Worst scene of the movie: Gandalf lighting up after Thorin died. Then everyone cracks up. Hilarious....not.
Final rating: 7/10. Definitely worth watching for the epic battle fans, though it will drag at certain points.