Worst of the series

Rating: 5/10 (16 December 2014)

The journey continues with Bilbo (Freeman), Gandalf (McKellen) and the dwarf company reaching the Lonely Mountain to take back what is rightfully theirs from the dragon Smaug (Cumberbatch). Legolas (Bloom) is delightfully written into the story, but doesn't really help move it forward; while Bard (Evans) and his home of Esgaroth bring a freshness to Middle-Earth, but the over-development of the subplot steers things way too far off course. Too pretentious and dark—it's as if Peter Jackson took all the fine things in the book and injected it with steroids, draining any sort of hype for the last minute third installment. A cameo of Peter Jackson's two pugs (one fawn, one black) is probably the best thing about this film.
** (out of four)