The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

This movie should not have existed.

I'm not a big fan of the decision to split this story into 3 movies.

That being said, I still enjoyed this movie.

For me, any time spent in Middle Earth is time well spent.

SPOILERS AHEAD

First off, it looked good: sometimes too good. The CGI is evident in every scene, and though it's not a bad thing all the time, some battle scenes look too glorious and bright. The lighting is a little weird.

I am glad that the trilogy is confident in its style; it goes all out on CGI.

Computer generated orcs look cool and all, but sometimes I miss seeing real people with disgusting orc makeup. 

Dain, Thorin's brother who comes to the aid of the dwarves, is ENTIRELY CGI. I think it had to do with the actor portraying him having Parkinson's. 

The fighting was epic; the movie earned its title. There was a real sense of danger when Thorin fought Azog. 

On the flip side, there was no sense of danger when Legolas defies gravity and runs up falling rubble.

Here are some problems I had with this movie:

At times, there was comedic relief where it didn't need to be. In the open of the film, after seeing Smaug completely decimate Lake-town, and feeling extremely sad and fearful, it cuts to Bombur the dwarf making a funny face. Then it switches back to a sad tone as if nothing ever happened.

Alfred. This annoying, unibrowed jerk had way more screen time than he deserved. He keeps coming back again and again, and every time the movie focuses on him doing something cowardly. How does it end? Does he get what he deserved? Absolutely not. The last time his character is unnecessarily seen, he leaves with gold-stuffed fake breasts feeling great about himself. For the rest of the movie I waited patiently for Alfred to be stabbed or stepped on by a giant orc, but it never happened.

He had more screen time than Beorn and Radagast combined, who both deserved more of the spotlight. How unsatisfying.

Thranduil shoved an Aragorn reference down my throat. Way out of place.

There was hardly any closure for Tauriel. The last time we see her, she is mourning Kili's death.

Come to think of it, Bilbo, Gandalf, and Thorin were the only ones with a satisfactory amount of closure.

The ending was strange. It rapidly took me on a roller coaster ride from the happiness of the Shire to the doom and gloom of the Ring. Then in a blink of an eye, Bilbo is an old man, Gandalf comes to visit, and the Shire is happy again. I didn't know what to feel.

Speaking of the ending, I had way too many questions after the credits rolled.

Who lives in the Lonely Mountain now?

Who is next in line to be king of the dwarves?

Where the heck is the Arkenstone?

What happens to Tauriel?

My biggest complaint of this movie was that it didn't end by cutting back to the dwarves, burying Thorin deep in the Lonely Mountain, singing the Misty Mountains song one last time. 

The fighting proved an acceptable ending to the Hobbit trilogy, but it was far from perfect and barely near acceptable.

But alas, any time spent in Middle Earth is time well spent.