You have to like it but you do feel compelled to...

Rating: 6/10 (9 January 2015)

On the down side: It was the wrong five armies. It was far too long. Smaug was out of it quite quickly. Did I say it was far too long? On the up side - the casting of Billy Connolly in the role he played was excellent. The creepy little tax gatherer was a nice touch and the comedy female clobber raised the odd laugh.
You really did feel the plot stretching as it dragged on and on and on. The love stories and characters that were never there, the links into other stories and just everything left you feeling that Peter Jackson was as weary as the audience of the draw and hobbit fest. I really felt as if I had been on years of a quest.