Great Ending to the Middle-Earth Saga

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2014)

The Lord of the Rings trilogy was one of the best film series ever to be made in terms of its epic proportions, grandiose score, intricate weaving of stories, and CGI. Peter Jackson did a great job interpreting the three Tolkien novels and putting them up on the big screen, a great feat done with great success.
When I heard that the Hobbit, originally one Tolkien book, was going to be split into three films just like the Lord of the Rings, I was surprised and worried about how they could expand one novel into 3 full-length feature films. So going in to the movies, I did not expect them to follow the book 100% - I expected changes to be made and additions inserted here and there to provide more excitement or emotion to the story.
I have heard a lot of people write and complain about how bad the last Hobbit was, but given the framework of its development and that it was supposed to be much longer than anyone expected, people should not be going into this moving expecting it to be a great nod to Tolkien, but rather one for Peter Jackson. He wanted it to be longer, he wanted to add his own creative flare to it, and he did.
I found that the last Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, was a great film. Obviously, it doesn't stick to Tolkien's Hobbit in its entirety and makes links to the original Lord of the Ring trilogy, but overall, given what Peter Jackson was trying to accomplish, he did a wonderful job. Hobbit 3 had a lot of epic battle scenes, mixed in with a variety of moving, elegant pieces of music done by Howard Shore. It had a mixture of drama, action, adventure, romance, and magic - all of them parts that can make up a great film.
If you've been following along with the Hobbit trilogy and enjoyed it, you'll find this to be a great ending to the story and well worth your money at the cinema. If you were already doubting the first two movies and didn't find them particularly enjoyable, then this may not be for you.
However, as a stand-alone film, the story and the score are enough to earn it a 10/10 for me. Overall, it's a highly enjoyable movie with lots of action and adventure, and it has a memorable score.