A tie in to the Lord of the Rings with a thin plot to boot...

Rating: 7/10 (13 December 2014)

Having never read the Hobbit i've enjoyed each of the films so far. It may lack in some of the detail that was seen in the LOTR films but good fun nonetheless.
I was equally as excited to see the last instalment but unfortunately it just didn't quite live up to the hype.
The first hour was entertaining, really building up to what I and everyone in the cinema thought would be a great climax. Then it just loses it. Battle scene after battle scene where you watch Legolas jump from falling stone to falling stone, a huge Orc army which seemed endless suddenly loses when Thorin makes an entrance and later on, another Orc army which is instantly wiped out by eagles. It was either too elaborate or too quick and the plot vanishes from that point on.
Instead what this films ends up being is a half finished end to the Hobbit trilogy and more focus on how to tie into the Lord of the Rings. Whilst visually it may be stunning, the story just doesn't quite cut it.