Jackson's weakest

Rating: 6/10 (4 November 2014)

BEWARE! Spoilers Contained.
This a brief summary of my thoughts. For me the H:DOS is one of Jackson's weaker films. The film delivers as a great action, fantasy but does not contain the depth and stamina of the LOTR trilogy or the first Hobbit film, which in my opinion was just as good as LOTR. The action and CGI are far too cartooned for my liking and the plot is evidently bulked up for the sake of making the 2 film plan work as a trilogy. The story elements that are added such as the Elf, Dwarf love triangle is ridiculous and goes against the hatred between the elves and dwarfs established in H:AUJ. In my opinion the film lacks character development and drama and the inclusion of Legolas as a character adds no weight to the story and seems pointless just for the sake of linking it with LOTR. Bilbo is the one character who does go through an arc as he slowly becomes obsessed with the ring and aware of Thorin's motives Some scenes iconic to the book I feel were rushed or poorly constructed such as the barrel sequence and Beorn's house. What I would have liked from this chapter is more of Radagast's character investigating the Necromancer and being the one who is captured as opposed to Gandulf. I also felt the ending should have been the demise of Smaug rather than being saved for the final chapter. In doing so would it have been reminiscent of LOTR. In two towers the lesser evil is defeated leaving the ROTK for them to fight the main villain. Although I look forward to the Five Armies I can't help feel it will be overfilled with action.