An action packed conclusion to The Hobbit trilogy

Rating: 7/10 (23 November 2017)

After the events portrayed in 'The Desolation of Smaug' the dwarfs, under Thorin Oakenshield, have taken control of the mine under the Lonely Mountain and searching for the 'Arkenstone', not knowing that Bilbo Baggins has already found it. Meanwhile the dragon Smaug has attacked and destroyed Lake Town before being slain by Bard the Bowman. After this Bard becomes the leader of the survivors as they head to the Lonely Mountain expecting the dwarfs to help them. Thorin, affected by Dragon sickness, refuses and barricades the entrance. Soon a force of Elves turns up hoping to retrieve their own treasure from the mountain; they ally with the human forces and prepare to attack. Just as they are about to strike a large army of dwarfs arrives to help those in the mountain. That is the least of their worries; Orcish forces are also attacking and soon men, dwarfs and elves are fighting side by side.
This is a solid enough conclusion to the Hobbit trilogy which goes some way to link this trilogy to the 'Lord of the Rings'. The story is pretty simple and there are few real surprises just lots and lots of action. This action is pretty good for the most part although occasionally the CGI is a little obvious. The characters are mostly 'more of the same' with familiar characters battling the evil orcs. Alfrid Lickspittle, a character who lives up to his name, was a fun addition as the cowardly sidekick to the late ruler of Lake Town although why Bard trusted him for most of the film is a mystery as he shows his true colours at every possible opportunity. The cast does a solid job bringing the characters to life and the various CGI creatures look believable. Overall this film provided plenty of action although I'm not sure it was really necessary to turn a short book like The Hobbit into three films with lots of new material.