Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Okay, this isn't (quite) a franchise embarrassment. It's no "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull", for example. But I honestly don't see how even the most wide-eyed fan boy could give this one 5 stars. The first two Hobbit movies were good- not LOTR good - but good just the same. But this? What could have easily been the best movie of the trilogy, somehow ended up the worst. How did this happen? It started out fine, but then steadily went down hill. Spoilers follow.... If you watched the special features on the first two Hobbit movies, you know that Peter Jackson and crew went out of their way to make each dwarf a unique character with a distinctive personality - as opposed to the vague descriptions offered in the book (e.g. "Balin is the one in the red hood"). This was one of the great elements of the first two movies: getting to know these characters and watch them interact and grow. So why throw all of this effort out the window for the last movie? Other than Thorin and Kili, I don't think the remaining dwarves had 2 pages of dialogue between them. The others might as well have been played by extras. Other disappointing elements... 1) Lack of epilogue. The battle ends, Bilbo basically just says "bye", and goes back to the Shire to interrupt his estate sale. What about the impact of winning the battle? Does Bard become King of Dale? Does Dain become King of Erebor? Is Erebor rebuilt to its former glory? Is there a new era of peace, prosperity and cooperation for Erebor, Dale, and the Woodland elves? The viewers will never know (unless they read the book). 2) Silly fight scenes. One example: a troll knocking down a tower to form a bridge. The tower survives that incredible impact but starts to fall apart if Legolas or Bolg accidentally elbow its walls? Speaking of which, was Bolg even a necessary character? And Legolas violating the laws of physics by walking up free-falling rocks? I can only suspend my disbelief so far. 3) Too much Thorin "dragon sickness". 4) Way too much Alfrid. (And Bard actually trusting him to get his children to safety? Please.) 5) Too many disconnected battle scenes at the expense of real story telling. 6) Missed opportunities. The bats? Yet another "army bred for a single purpose". That purpose must be to be killed by eagles, because that's all we see them doing on the screen. And Beorn? He is supposed to be this Orc-killing machine. We see him fight for about 5 seconds... right after his laugh-inducing airdrop from an eagle. 7) Way too much CGI. During the battle sequences, the film often looks more like animation than live-action. 8) More missed opportunities. Wouldn't it have been a powerful scene to show the surviving dwarves laying Thorin to rest in his tomb, Arkenstone glittering on his chest, while singing a reprise of "Misty Mountains Cold"? Instead, we get that weird scene after the battle of Bilbo watching Gandalf fiddle with his pipe. Really? That's what makes it into the final cut? I shudder to think of the scenes they chose to edit out. By the end of the film, I seriously had to check the credits to see if Peter Jackson was actually involved, because his usual deft touch went missing somewhere along the way. So much so, that in a way the other 2 movies are now diminished for me. I don't want to sit down and watch them knowing that their overall story does not have a satisfying conclusion. Such a shame.