Entertaining, but clearly shows this was meant to be two movies

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2014)

I came out of this movie feeling entertained, but also a bit underwhelmed. It was fun, but it never really succeeded to connect with me. Plus it is a movie that has to exist in the shadow of the previous movie, and also one hugely successful older trilogy. Its not a bad movie, not at all. But you can clearly tell that this story was never intended to be stretched out to three movies, especially since the dragon dies before the opening title. So it comes as no surprise that the rest of the movie is just armies fighting, and a lot of fan fiction being thrown at the screen. A lot of cameos and references feel horrible forced, especially when the movie tries to throw an Aragorn reference in (Thank the gods that Vigo said no to a cameo). This movie did not need this many cameos. But it's kind of like the writers were shrugging at the audience, while saying "That's all we got".
So while the movie is a decent entertaining fantasy flick, it doesn't really resonate, or hit any real emotional notes with the audience. It tries desperately to throw in some drama, but this only reminds us that we still don't know most of the dwarfs by name, nor have they gotten any character development. I also suspect there are quite a number of missing scenes, because some things literally pop up out of thin air (such as a bunch of mountain goats that appear completely out of nowhere).
The acting is good though, and everyone delivers a decent performance. The special effects are great, and the creature designs and costumes are all very well done. And the movie closes with a smooth transition to the Fellowship of the Ring, which I think was well done. But this movie is definitely not as memorable as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Thankfully, unlike Return of the King, the ending to this movie is not drawn out. It ends exactly when it needs to.