Entertaining, but a bit breathless

Rating: 7/10 (10 December 2014)

While a bit more focused than parts 1 and 2 , the third Hobbit film still shows some difficulty in hitting a consistent tone and rhythm. Tragedy is mixed with laugh-out-loud visual gags, large-scale battles with duels ... many script decisions did not enhance the story as known from the books (why did they remove the dwarfs from the battle to kill them?). And the rhythm - I hope for the extended cut; many scenes felt rushed (Sauron's demise? The end of the battle? The journey home?) or too jumpy (where now exactly did those wargoats come from?)
From the Middle-earth experience POV, this is the most boring of PJs 6 Tolkien films, nearly no new region to explore here except a short (and quite unnecessary) trip to Mt. Gundabad. As my lady-friend mentioned when we stumbled out of the theater: There was little of the middle-earth magic in BotFA. On the other hand, those locations on screen are well-defined, we get a good grasp of the geography, and the sets are beautiful.
The plus points:

The battle scenes had good choreography, even if everything was a bit over-the-top.

The sets and overall artistic and character design

The actors. Especially Freeman's Bilbo is a joy to behold, from the first moments in the Shire to the desolate ending.

So, my overall conclusion for the whole three parts: While I'm glad those movies were realised, and there are many memorable and nice scenes, overall I had hoped for something better. Don't get me wrong - "The Hobbit" (the book) is not "The Lord of the Rings", so we couldn't expect something on the same level - but there were many missed opportunities. Starting with the decision to shoot in 3D, which led to a different look and the necessity to use CGI in many instances, and the decision to make it more "grown-up" than the book but keeping (or even introducing) the childish elements. And you can't simply replace epicness with amusement park rides. I don't think there's a better "Lord of the Rings" waiting in the foreseeable future, but I definitely can see a better "Hobbit".