There was so much potential, but it just turned out to be mediocre.

Rating: 6/10 (31 January 2015)

SHORT REVIEW (SPOILERS):
For me, this movie is on the same level as the first "Hobbit" movie - too long and boring. Replacing the yawn-inducing (boring) set-up scenes are yawn-inducing (exhausting) action scenes (though VFX are top-notch). Smaug appears for less than ten minutes. If you cringe at the Tauriel/Kili love story, then don't bother watching. Finally, this movie leaves FAR TOO MANY loose ends then it has to... Fans of the book will probably be the most disappointed.
Verdict: RENT IT (or buy the Ext. Edition if you don't care).
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LONG REVIEW:
Even when not being compared to 'The Lord of the Rings', the 'Hobbit' films still fall short in many departments other fantasy films have succeeded. 'The Battle of the Five Armies' is no exception.
While most of the cast does give excellent performances, the script they're given to work with is a different issue. Splitting a short children's novel into three 'over-two hours' films was a bad idea from the start - and 'TBotFA' is the last testament to that fact. Watching the film, I can honestly say that a good 2/3rd of the movie was just a really long and tedious battle sequence. It was nice to see nearly everyone in the previous movies come back in the end, but at this point, the story just became hard to follow (it jumps around a lot). And just like the trilogy itself, the pacing in this film feels REALLY unbalanced. If certain characters (such as our main dwarfs) were given more focus, then I might have given this film a seven. But alas, the conclusion just got too big and ambitious for its own good.
For those who don't like loose ends - just be warned, you're gonna get a lot of them (but maybe this it to make up for 'Return of the King'?). Anyway, Peter Jackson does a fine job of transitioning 'The Battle of the Five Armies' into 'The Fellowship of the Ring'.
There will also be points in the battle sequences where you will notice inconsistencies about certain characters' strengths and abilities. At times, these inconsistencies can make you scratch your head, and at other times, they can fly right over your head. If you tend to notice these things in movies, then you're going to be rolling your eyes a lot and thinking 'OH, COME ON!'.
Although I don't consider 'The Battle of the Five Armies' to be the best in its trilogy, I would say to just check it out if you're curious to find out what happens after 'Desolation' - just prepared to be disappointed. If you still hold the notion that this movie will 'redeem' the entire trilogy... No, just drop it. That's what I thought before going into this movie.