It diverges from the book, but it's still great...

Rating: 9/10 (15 December 2014)

Well, I can understand why many of the LOTR book fans are so disappointed of this movie, and maybe the whole trilogy, for in the end I am one of the book nerds. But I couldn't feel but utter joy while watching the last movie that visits the middle earth realms. Truth be told, three movies are too much, and one movie is too few. The book had many plot twists in the Tolkien sort of way, but with the added touches of Peter Jackson, the events taking place would never fit in a one theatrical version movie, or even the extended copy. As we watch the final movie, we can't help but notice that the whole gap between the death of Smaug and the 13 dwarfs discovering that fact was never there. Bilbo in the movie informs them that he saw Smaug dying, which never happened in the books. Not so fast. In addition, the whole Necromancer thing was a complete addition by Peter Jackson, for in the book, it was told that Gandalf went and came with no telling about his little journey or detour. Was that a bad addition? No. I enjoyed this specific scene. I enjoyed the way Saroman the White, Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel fought. It was utterly epic, especially when Lady Galadriel banished Sauron back from whence he came. Tauriel was another addition that I didn't like that much, especially when Peter Jackson tried to make her one of the main reasons Legolas leaves his kin to wander off and team up with Aragorn. It is said that Tauriel was mentioned with an elf reference in the book, but the whole Tauriel-Kili thing was a bit off the topic.
To conclude, I fell in love with the movie. I felt taken aback by how I was gazing at the screen trying to fight the flow of emotions. And I loved the theme song. And that was enough for me.