Elementary, my dear Wat (ahem) Bilbo...

Rating: Null/10 (15 December 2013)

One the first things that struck me was this - how much better this would have seemed on IMAX 3D (not the DMR variety, which IS playing in limited release in India, but if they had actually filmed few sequences using that format, and then we got to watch it in a good IMAX cinema - not DigiMAX/LieMAX).
The next thing that struck me - why did it have to be another cliffhanger ending? I get it. The story continues. But, why not have each movie be self-sufficient as well? I don't think it's too much to ask. I've read the books, so I know what happens, but still I felt cheated. Esp. coming off 'Catching Fire' just last weekend (in India at least).
The 3rd, and possibly more important, more responsible thing - when the initial LOTR movie came out, there was an uproar about PG13 rating allowing filmmakers to get away with a certain amount of gore, as long as there's no bleeding. We have Orcs in this, who get decapitated in all sorts of gruesome ways, and we're used to it all now, considering the 4 movies that have had 'it' abundantly. Perhaps this is the one that has it the most, flying at us in 3D. I'm all for hard R-rated stuff, but considering this is what our kids are gonna be watching, I am skeptical about the PG13 being awarded to this. It does help that we do not feel sorry for the Orcs in any way, but I think that was by design, and makes it all video-gamey, allowing us to immune ourselves to the violence that is being meted out, and somehow, that's not a good thing, IMO.
All that apart, this is one rousing, spectacular swashbuckler, with all the fat trimmed off, so naysayers of the first one have literally nothing to crib about (but you never know with cribbers, seeing how I spent my first 2 paragraphs ranting). Jackson has made better movies, but it is nevertheless great to watch this one on the big screen. Sure, he could have avoided the Twilight-triangle, but it does not consume much screen time, and 1 of those scenes is actually tender, coming off of an unintentionally funny sequence (you'll know it when you see it).
Holmes and Watson (ahem), Cumberbatch and Freeman, get together again, and do quite a bit of (this time, unintelligent, when compared to Gollum's and Bilbo's 'encounter' in the 1st one) verbal jousting before (literally) taking off. Armitage, McKellen and Bloom all continue to be good, while Fry, Pace and Evans are wasted.
One of the big items on my wishlist (for this series) has been the re-creation of the battle from which Sauron has vanquished, and when I heard that Jackson was actually adding stuff not there in the books, I dared to hope. Alas, that is not to be, though he seemingly has added a lot of exhilarating stuff that's also not present in the books, along with plot arcs and characters.
Here's hoping I catch it once again on IMAX, and await the final instalment next year, when Jackson takes us all 'There and back again'. Knowing how he chooses to tie everything with a bow (think 'Return of the King'), I think we're all in for a spectacular finish.
Note: Freeman acts by never allowing us to acknowledge that there's an actor under all that hobbit makeup, and that's no mean feat. Here's lookin' fwd to more from dear Watson......