Too convoluted.

Rating: 6/10 (25 December 2014)

The idea of not sticking to the novel; seemed to impress me till the end of the last movie. However, the way they ended it disappointed me. In this last installment, the final Middle-Earth movie, Smaug,the dragon who was such an important part of the storyline till the second movie, was killed off within the first 20 minutes, which seemed absolutely ludicrous. They could have shown that at the end of the previous installment and set up the stage for the battle then. But, what they did kind of ruined Smaug for me in this third movie and seemed to belittle his part in the storyline that preceded it.
This also made the love triangle between Legolas-Tauriel-Kili seemed to be unnecessary and incapable of rousing any emotions in the movie. This could supposedly have been replaced by many crucial scenes, that the director had decided to show.
Azog's back-up plan seemed like a last-minute thing, as it was all to brief and convoluted. The fight at the end was well shot and was the only good part of this story.
Amongst the actors, Richard Armitage got to display his potential as a man who has lost his mind on acquiring an insane amount of wealth. Martin Freeman was as usual,very good in his role too. Sir Ian McKellen was good in his, surprisingly, very short role in this movie. Many other important characters seemed to have been wasted.
Disappointing, but still, the feeling that you got of having witnessed everything, before Gandalf enters Bilbo's birthday, and actually getting to witness their exchange at the door that fateful day(from The Fellowship of the Ring) left a smile on my face at the end.
Hope this last part would have managed to do the same,throughout.