A film that should probably not have been made

Rating: Null/10 (22 March 2015)

I may be alone in my belief that the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy should not have been made into films.
The message lying at the heart of the books, reflects, for me, a deep sadness and reluctance in the face of war. Tolkien was appalled by Stalinist Communism and Hitlarian Nazism, in equal measure. He was also appalled by the indiscriminate bombing by the allies that took place during WW2.
Tolkien was in many ways a moderate who had first hand experience of and an abhorrence for the horrors war inflicts on ordinary people.Regrettably but perhaps, predictably, the anti war sentiment at the heart of Tolkiens works is largely lost in the films.
What we get instead amounts to visually pretty, action films. There is lots of exposition but little character development.This is in spite of an excellent cast of top shelf actors.
The Battle of the Five Armies continues this trend offering large helpings of action, clever special effects and bloodshed but little else. The net result is you are left feeling rather empty.
Yet another technically competent, commercially driven but ultimately soulless outing. Six out of ten from me.