144 minutes of what was right in the past two Hobbit movies

Rating: 10/10 (23 December 2014)

INTRODUCTION (NO SPOILERS): I'll tell you this first, this movie is different from the previous two in the trilogy. How you may ask? You've got a whole lot of fighting in this movie rather than characters walking tirelessly towards a goal. It's almost as if Peter Jackson took the criticism.
SPOILERS BEGIN HERE: At the start of the movie, well chorea graphed action scenes involving Smaug, the fire breathing dragon, was breathtaking to see. After, the way tensions boiled up between different factions in the movie was something we as viewers haven't seen in the past two Hobbit movies. In the middle of the stalemate, which surprisingly wasn't too long and boring, armies violently clashed. This, is what Lord of the Rings fans wanted to see.
The story was then told through midst of the epic battles. It was told fairly well. Sure it was told mostly by generic dialogue, but that isn't necessarily a bad point.
As one who didn't read the book, the movie ended quite dramatically. It didn't seem expected what exactly was going to happen in the last skirmishes. What was somewhat disappointing though was the outcome of how the battles played out, we only know who won. It didn't seem like either side had the upper hand when we were cut away from it.
Overall, I was impressed with this movie, especially when watching the action scenes. The previous two in the Trilogy I would have given a high seven due to it being slow paced at parts.