It was very good. I didn't like the second movie, but I enjoyed this a lot. I think it rounds off the LOTR movies in quite a nice way. The Hobbit trilogy was nowhere near as memorable as LOTR but it did make me want to watch them again.
All in all there were some very nice moments.
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Thorrin's descent into madness and redemption were very enjoyable, as was his death scene. Martin Freeman did a great job conveying his emotions with that. I'm not sure how true it is to the source material but it works.
Didn't care for the Tauriel stuff and it was silly how Smaug died in the cold open again (Saruman style). NOTICING A PATTERN HERE.
The war was very well choreographed in all, and the movie had solid focus this time. They managed to fit so much into what was a noticably smaller window of time, which really could've served the second movie a great deal.
And as always, it was kind of just nice to be back in Middle Earth even if we didn't stray too much outside of the Misty Mountains.
I would recommend seeing it on the big screen.
It is worth finishing the trilogy on the big screen if just for the end credits!
I was the only person who stayed for the full duration. Beautiful artwork and musical score as always. The Last Goodbye feels so poignant since it's our last trip to Middle Earth and also
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With the last scene being Bilbo holding the ring. That music goes really nicely with that moment.
ended up seeing this tonight. It was alright. I will say that 2.5 hours FLEW by, it definitely didn't drag at all. But at the same time it didn't really feel like a complete movie at all, it was just all climax really. I dunno. It just left me feeling empty
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DIDN'T LIKE:
- Legolas as a fucking superhero again. I mean yeah, he singlehandedly took down a mumakil in LOTR but the fact that he was doing over-the-top shit all through the Hobbit trilogy definitely diminishes that moment. It's just modus operandi for Legolas now apparently. And I didn't really get the last scene with him? He's going to meet Aragorn, but I thought they first met at the Council of Elrond? Plus this was set like 50+ years before LOTR
- Tauriel not dying. I REALLY THOUGHT IT WAS GONNA HAPPEN!! If I couldn't see Kate die I at least wanted this :(( But Kili took it from me. That fuck
- The whole Tauriel/Kili story really. What was the point? All of the dialogue between them was so cliche
- Smaug dying so early. I mean it was that way in the books but ehh. Kinda makes the 2nd movie's cliffhanger less effective when it's resolved so quickly. But at least he got to wreck shit for a little while to finally show himself as a halfway threatening villain
- Those ungodly monstrosity trolls what the FUCK
- No payoff for the eagles. They were shown for like five seconds and there were some lines saying "THE EAGLES ARE HERE!" But what did they actually do? I guess they ended the battle, but none of that was really shown
- Where did the giant worms go? Those were p badass. But they disappeared forevermore after like 5 seconds
- Thorin's cousin with the CGI face. Why? Why did it need to be CGI? That was very odd
LIKED:
- The troll running headfirst and killing himself in order to take out a wall. Best moment of the movie
- Bard in general. He was probably my favorite part about the 2nd movie and he was great here too. Probably the best character introduced in this trilogy
- Thorin's storyline was pretty good. And that was a cool death scene with Azog floating beneath the ice
- Alfred, that absolute silly goose
- Bilbo had some good moments
- Saruman & friends kicking ass was kinda fun in a campy way
he seemed to exist for the sole purpose of having a comically over the top death and then he just walks off after looting from his dead compatriots? :/
battle scenes were TOP NOTCH. even though the movies have been significantly bloated this felt like a tight and involving story, more than the rest. probably because so much of it was tied to Thorin's character arc, with the first half of the movie having him retreat deep into the tunnels of Smaug's cave.
the movie basically let the series go out on a relative high note, even though Bilbo leaving the dwarves was really unemotional. it seems like with all the extra time these movies had more of an emotional connection should have been forged.
Bilbo leaving the dwarves was really unemotional. it seems like with all the extra time these movies had more of an emotional connection should have been forged.
AGREED. Frodo leaving his fellow hobbits was incredibly emotional in LOTR. These movies had nearly as much time to tell its story and yet I felt nothing when Bilbo left the dwarves because I didn't really give a shit about any of them. Half of them had like 1-2 lines, and I'd be surprised if a lot of people could name more than half of them. You'd think with so much extra time to tell the story that they could've developed at least a few of them, but Thorin's the only one that had any real arc. The only notable thing I can remember about any of the rest of them is that Kili <3s Tauriel which, (: I would've especially loved if they made Gloin a great character in these movies to lead into Gimli's story in LOTR
AGREED. Frodo leaving his fellow hobbits was incredibly emotional in LOTR. These movies had nearly as much time to tell its story and yet I felt nothing when Bilbo left the dwarves because I didn't really give a shit about any of them. Half of them had like 1-2 lines, and I'd be surprised if a lot of people could name more than half of them. You'd think with so much extra time to tell the story that they could've developed at least a few of them, but Thorin's the only one that had any real arc. The only notable thing I can remember about any of the rest of them is that Kili <3s Tauriel which, (: I would've especially loved if they made Gloin a great character in these movies to lead into Gimli's story in LOTR
Balin was good too even though he was largely an exposition device. Just an old man trying to do something noble and good.
I think the problem with these movies is that they probably should have been musicals and definitely should have been cut down to 100 minutes apiece.
For the record I definitely see what they were going for with the 3-movie structure, I just think the movies being so long hurt their overall impact. A tighter version of these stories with less action but more WHIMSY and worldbuilding would have been great.
By which I mean some plot points were necessary but there's a lot they could've condensed to make it two movies instead of three. The second movie felt very winding and pointless and the third movie felt like a third arc as a whole movie.
Well the last two movies really are just one big movie cut in half. It was filmed as one movie but just had way too much to it and had to be cut down... and rather than trim it... it was just made into 2. Which is pretty crazy. And there is still going to be extended versions of both. Pete Jackson really likes long movies.
